Spectre: A Beacon to Follow
by De4thstopper
Summary: Spectre has a new goal. He has attempted to leave his miserable old life behind him, and has joined Beacon Academy. But he can't relax for a minute; between fighting Grimm, schoolwork, and team RWBY's exploits, he's going to be very busy. (This is the second story in the Spectre series. I've written it differently this time, so I hope it's better than the last! Enjoy!)
1. Chapter I

Chapter I: The First of Many

'_It is up to you, to take the first step.'_

A flash of light, bitter cold and an electric atmosphere. Ruins formed out of the white around me, trapping me in a circle of stone. I found myself sat up against a pile of rubble, my swords shattered and a battered helmet thrown aside. Blood ran from my chest like a river of deep red. Pain seared through my head like a flash fire.

Then the beast came.

It swooped down from the sky on wings of hell, its landing shaking the ground and cracking the floor beneath it.

"You were a fool to come here alone," it said prowling towards me. Every word from its tainted mind just caused more and more pain across my body, like I was going to explode. It then licked the rim of its mouth, flashing its monstrous teeth. "Now it is time to reclaim the prize that you stole from me."

It reached for me, holding me high in its claws. I felt my very life being sucked from me, my body getting gradually number by the second. Its mouth did not move but I heard a demonic laugh echo through the ruins. And then darkness…

I opened my eyes. It took a few seconds to realise that it was just a vision, to my relief. After quickly looking around, I remembered what I was doing here; I, like the many people around me, was on my way to Beacon Academy via airship for my first semester. For me, it was also my first proper attempt at school life, so I was more curious than some.

"How long have I been out for?" I thought. Glimpsing at the clock being projected on the other side of the lounge, it had been thirty six minutes since I first began to meditate. I sighed and stood from my seat for a quick stretch, before moving to the windows to check out the view. We were high above the city of Vale. It sure was an impressive sight to see.

I stayed a few minutes longer to take it all in, enjoying the calm while it lasted. Then my thoughts were interrupted:

"You don't look like the average kid," a voice said beside me. I turned to look at the speaker. He was tall and well built, with short brown hair. He wore a steel-coloured full armour breastplate with a gold trim, and shoulder guards of similar description.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, as if I didn't know.

"I don't know about you buddy, but I think the whole helmet thing is a little weird. I'm not the only one either, believe me."

Looking around I found he was right, people were staring at me then looking away as I exchanged gazes. That was normal when people first saw me, so I've grown used to it by now. "What's your point?" I pressed.

"Oh, I don't know," the boy said shrugging his broad shoulders, "You might just attract some attention that you may not like…"

I'd had enough. "You don't think I'm used to this?" I said keeping my calm, "Believe it or not, I have a way to get around things like that. You want to know what it is?"

"Sure," the boy said uneasily.

I leaned in closer. "I _deal_ with it. You can't intimidate me that easily, mate."

After a few moments, he grunted in response. "Not bad," he said, an impressed look on his face, "You know what? I like you kid. My name's Cardin Winchester, what's yours?"

"Spectre," I replied.

"Just Spectre?"

"Yeah, just Spectre."

He nodded to himself, satisfied. He then turned to leave. "I guess I'll be seeing you around, Spectre," he said moving to approach someone else he could pick on. I had no respect for bullies like him, making people suffer for your own amusement is wrong. At least I had the satisfaction of standing up to him.

Shortly after that encounter, a news bulletin flared on the holo-screens projected around the room. It was focused around Roman Torchwick, reporting a recent dust robbery that he had co-ordinated. The reporter advised not to approach him and report his appearances to the authorities. The next report mentioned how an initially peaceful protest for Faunus rights turned ugly as the White Fang intervened.

"There seems to be nothing but crime on the news these days," I thought.

The report was soon cut off, and a woman appeared on the holo-screens. "Hello and welcome to Beacon," the woman said, "My name is Glenda Good-Witch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

And like that, she disappeared. Once the broadcast had finished, it didn't take long for us to land at the docks. The main doors opened and people flooded out, eager to see their new home for the years to come. I followed behind the crowd and marvelled in the sight before me. Beacon Academy. It had some of the most amazing architecture I had ever seen, the central tower climbing high into the bright blue sky.

* * *

><p>Along with many of the others here, I wasn't sure where to go or what I had to do next. Like a lost child, I wandered the grounds, trying to get my bearings, to spot a familiar face, anything. After some time, and no luck, I decided to head to something that interested me. The deeper I ventured into Beacon, the fewer people I saw; they were all probably meeting friends and things like that. I eventually made it to the central tower, where a large area with a stage dominated the area around its foot. There were one or two people here and there, but other than that it was more or less barren. My curiosity satiated, I turned to leave but was stopped by a familiar voice.<p>

"Spectre," it said, warm and welcoming. I turned to find Professor Ozpin, with Miss Good-Witch at his side. He made his way towards me, his cane clinking against the flagstone.

"It's good to see that you have arrived safely," he continued.

"It's a pleasure to be here, Sir," I replied with utmost respect.

He looked around the atrium, searching for something. "Where is your sister?" he asked returning his attention to me.

I went cold. "You… don't know?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Don't know what?" he replied, a quizzical look on his face.

I took a deep breath before answering, making sure I didn't crack up. "Shadow… she's dead, Sir." It was hard to say the words aloud. Were it two months ago, she'd still be here, still alive, still with me…

The look on Miss Good-Witch's face said it all. "Oh you poor thing…" she said, placing her hands on my shoulders, "No one should ever have to go through something like that." It was rare for her to show such sympathy; from what I heard she could be a very strict woman, and was certainly less laid back than Professor Ozpin.

The headmaster tilted his head downwards. "A terrible audial indeed…" He seemed to be deep in thought. Then he said: "If you would see me after my speech, we can discuss this further, if you wish."

"Thank you, Sir," I replied. He nodded in response then made for the stage. Miss Good-Witch followed closely, giving me a sad smile as she passed.

New students started to fill the atrium like sharks to a feeding frenzy. There weren't sufficient numbers to be cramped, but with what I'd seen before as comparison, it was a huge difference. I had decided to stay at the back and out of the way for now – the talk with the professor didn't exactly lift my spirits. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice in the crowd.

"Ruby, over here! I saved you a spot!"

I peered into the crowd and saw the speaker. It was the blonde haired girl that I met in Junior's club, some weeks ago now. Yang. That was her name. And her sister Ruby too. They were the only friends I have ever made, not including the guys from the Blades of course. My thoughts were cut off however, as someone tapped the mic in the stage.

It seemed that Professor Ozpin was ready to make his speech. "I'll… keep this brief," he started, "You've travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you finish you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You must assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will teach you that knowledge can only carry you so far." He looked out into the crowd. "It is up to you, to take the first step."

Silence. The very air stood still during and after the speech. I don't think anyone there would have thought that he'd present himself quite the way that he did.

He moved away from the stage, allowing Miss Good-Witch to take his spot. "You will gather at the ballroom tonight," she commanded, "Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." There were mutterings amongst the crowd as she stepped down from the stage. Watching her, I noticed that she had walked through a door, previously hidden behind the crowd. Professor Ozpin stood in the door frame looking in my direction, seeking me out.

"That's my cue..." I thought. I pushed myself off of the pillar I was leaning against, and Void-Jumped to the door. A flash of impossible blue, a quiet pop, and I had reappeared into reality.

The professor looked to where I had emerged in mild astonishment. "Impressive," he said indicating for me to enter the door. A short walk and an elevator ride later, we were sat in a small room, very the same room that I had been interviewed in about two years ago. There were no windows, and besides a single lamp in the centre, the room was plunged in complete darkness, just as I remember it. The professor took a sip from his coffee.

"Now, let's start with Shadow," he said observing me, "How did she… come to pass?"

I hesitated before answering, not quite sure what to tell him. "We were on a job…" I said taking my time, "We had to find evidence that an 'Arch-Grimm' existed."

The professor sat forward, clearly interested. "Go on," he said.

"We had been given a helmet camera, and were pointed towards an old tower ruin in the wilds to the north. People called it Grimm's Respite. We endured the cold and killed the Grimm in our path, but... she fell to the beast at the tower's peak…"

"The 'Arch-Grimm'?"

"I assume so yes," I replied, "We'd never seen anything like it before… Then the visions started…"

"I see…" There was a long pause before any of us spoke. The silence paired with the darkness around us made me feel even more uncomfortable. It was like I was being watched, yet couldn't see my surroundings.

The professor took another sip from his coffee. "Spectre," he said, "What happened in the past is what was. Here at Beacon you have a fresh start ahead of you – a new life to live. If you cling to the past, things may never change in your favour." Sadly clinging to the past was something I have a habit of doing, for better or worse.

I didn't comment, just listened.

"There is one other thing I need you to consider though," the professor continued, "Now that your sister is… no longer attending this academy, there are an odd number of students for the initiation trails. This means that there is a chance for you to not be partnered with anyone, or even being assigned a team at all. I can put in a special request for you, if this is a problem."

I thought about that for a moment. It didn't take long for me to decide. "No," I said confidently, "I have been alone for a while now, so I'm accustomed to being reliant on myself. Plus if I do get teammates, what happens if they die? It'll only repeat the cycle again. If am to be partnered with someone, then let fate do it for me."

The professor chuckled to himself. "Well said, Spectre. Very well, I will hold off the proposal for now, but should you change your mind, don't hesitate to ask."

"Of course, Sir. Now if you'd agree, I have to join the others," I said standing to leave.

"Indeed," the professor said shaking my hand, "You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>The ballroom was a large open room, with no furniture - or anything for that matter. For that night, it would serve a place to sleep for the dozens of students, eager to start their way on the path of the hunter. As of the day of Shadow's death, I dedicated myself to never sleep again, so changing into night clothes wasn't necessary. Nevertheless, I have gotten into the habit of changing into lighter fatigues for the longer periods of meditation, so one could say that I do indeed use pyjamas.<p>

Upon entering the room, I saw lines of sleeping bags dotting the floor with almost military precision. The boys seemed to be on one side of the room and the girls were on the other. Naturally I joined the boys' side, found a quiet corner and sat cross-legged, my things in a duffle bag beside me. People were still up and about, so I remained conscious to listen to the various conversations going on around me. I heard a few remarks like 'dude, check out those girls' and 'what's that guy in the corner doing?', but it didn't bother me too much.

Just as I'd grown comfortable however, I was rudely disturbed by a group of girls. "Oh not you again!" they said simultaneously. I sighed, then stood to find the source of the commotion. To my surprise, I actually recognised the rowdy bunch. There was Yang and Ruby, who I'd seen at the speech, and Weiss Schnee, the girl who I'd watched sing weeks ago. There was one other though, one that I recognised but knew very little about. It was the girl from the train. I never caught her name, but I was certain that it was her. Despite the risk of her recognising me, I approached the group.

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss screamed at Yang and Ruby.

"And all this screaming and shouting is a hazard to mine", I interrupted.

Four heads turned to me, three of which smiled in recognition. "Spectre!" the three girls said in unison. The fourth just looked at me blankly. It looked like she didn't recognise me, which was good. Then Yang stepped forward making herself heard.

"It's good to see you! How've you been?"

"Wait, you know these two?" Weiss cut in, pushing Yang out of the way.

"Yeah, he does," Yang said pushing Weiss back, "And we totally kick ass together, don't we Spectre."

"Well he saved my life," Weiss said, pushing Yang again, "AND he helped out with family business. Beat that, Blondie."

Before Yang sent a punch her way, I stepped between the two in an attempt to calm things down. "So," I said, changing the subject, "Would anyone like to introduce me to the quiet girl sat against the wall? I'll bet she feels really uncomfortable right now."

She looked at me for a second and blinked, not sure what I was implying. "I'm Blake," she said eventually, "Nice to meet you." There was a long pause.

I was afraid that the argument would kick off again so I began plucking at straws. "That's a nice bow you've got there," I said, not quite sure where I was going with it, "It goes really well with your… pyjamas? Yes, your pyjamas!"

She blinked again, simply dumbstruck. "Uh, thanks…" she replied awkwardly.

"See? That's what I said!" Yang put in unhelpfully.

"Oh yeah? Well it was a stupid comment if you ask me…" Weiss mocked.

"Hey! Who said I asked you?" Yang snapped back at her. And the bickering began once more. With all my cards on the table, I looked to Ruby for any help whatsoever. She shrugged, shaking her head in response. I face-palmed, releasing a long winded sigh as I did so. Through the gaps between my fingers, I could see Blake holding a candlestick, which was probably the only light source left in the room.

"Would you like to do the honours?" I asked, completely defeated.

She nodded and blew the candles out, enveloping the room into complete darkness.


	2. Chapter II

Author's Note: Hey guys, here I am with chapter two of Spectre B2F. I plan to release parts every Friday just so I can keep on top of things easily. If you enjoy the series, feel free to check my profile now and again, as I may set up polls referring to the story-line to come. Any feedback is appreciated as it helps me to make a better story that the readers want. My followers have been great at this, (I have plans to cover all of your points by the way, so don't worry!) so shout out to them and thanks again fellas! I'm also looking for a cover artist, so any if your interested feel free to private message me. Now allow me to sit back and shut up as you read to your heart's content. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter II: The Morning that Followed<p>

'_People are just friends you haven't met yet.'_

I woke to the reassuring darkness of the ballroom. My breathing was heavy, my body frigid, and my head throbbing. I had seen the monster again, the 'Arch-Grimm' which has stalked my dreams time and time again. Only this time it was that little bit worse. The dream itself was different though, more like a jump-scare compared with my previous visions. The pain was even more excruciating than the last time too. It was short but incredibly sharp, and I could still feel it even after waking up.

Fortunately, it didn't take too long for the pain to die down. I didn't know what the time was, but I was certain that I couldn't get back into meditating after that. Changing out of my sweat-soaked night clothes, I gathered my equipment and decided to take a jog around the campus. Thanks to whatever restful meditation I did get though, I had enough rest to take on the day ahead of me, and what an important one it was. Today was initiation, where our skills would be tested, and our teams were made. The future of us all would be determined this day.

After completing my circuit of the academy, the shattered moon sunk behind the horizon, and the sun started to paint its fierce orange light across the sky. I Void-Jumped to the roof of the dormitories just in time to witness the whole thing. In my past life, I rarely had time for such things, but this was one thing my sister and I enjoyed doing whilst we had the chance. She would be here with me now if she could - it's a shame that's no longer an option…

Lost in my own thoughts, I realised that I'd been there for quite some time, and people were starting to stir from their sleep. My mind then turned to the thought of breakfast, which I'd better sort out, seeing as I couldn't eat normal food through my helmet. My stomach didn't argue about the idea either.

* * *

><p>After making my way to the dinner hall, and speaking very nicely to one of the kitchen staff, I managed to buy one of their portable blenders from the school, along with a large packet of bendy straws. I prowled the four long tables, each one with stacks of various foods upon its highly polished surface. I grabbed what I liked and crammed it into the blender as I went. When I was satisfied, I grabbed a seat, placing my duffle bag at my feet, and switched the blender on, watching the magic happen. Once finished, my new concoction looked like the least appetising thing the world of Remnant had ever seen. It even had some bits of god-knows-what in there too. I gingerly placed a blue bendy straw into the faded brown vomit that was my breakfast. I sent a silent prayer to whatever being created this world, and slurped away. All in all, the taste wasn't <em>unbearable<em>. In fact, putting the mixture's appearance aside, it didn't make a half bad breakfast shake. I wouldn't give anyone else the recipe though…

By this point the other students had started to enter the hall, their stomachs grumbling wildly and their mouths watering at the shear stockpile of food laid before them. I watched as complete strangers mobilized into groups and ate side by side, exchanging greetings and discussing the day ahead of them. I noticed Yang and Ruby wandering aimlessly for a place to sit, but just as I was going to signal them over:

"Good morning Spectre."

I turned to find the Weiss was standing to my left, a plate of food in her hand. She was dressed in the same attire that she wore at the White Castle, the pale blue bolero jacket over her dress. "Good morning Miss Schnee," I replied placing my breakfast flask on the table.

Weiss indicated to the seat on the bench beside me. "Do you mind if I join you?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course not," I replied humbly.

Giving me a small smile, she sat down and made conversation. "I have a few things I would like to discuss, if that's fine with you of course."

"Anything at all, heiress," I responded, giving her my full attention.

"Firstly, I'd like to apologise for my dreadful behaviour last night. Luckily, you were the very the voice of calm regarding the whole situation, and I thank you for that."

"Apology accepted, and you're welcome," I said happily.

"And about the whole titles thing," she continued inclining her head to one side, "I'd appreciate it if you call me by my name from now on. We_ are_ in a school now after all…"

"Sure thing, your highness," I mocked.

Her face turned to thunder, and it looked like the plate of food she had would soon end up in my face.

"Sorry, I was only joking Weiss," I said quickly.

Thankfully the wrath of the ice queen had dwindled down to rest. "Oh, I see," she said uneasily. We said nothing for a few more moments, so I took another slurp of my 'Spectre's Delight'.

Before I could apologise further for my tomfoolery, Weiss's attention turned to my meal. "And, what is… that?" she asked with a puzzled look about her.

"This is my breakfast, just… blended together."

She blinked, but never took her eyes off of the mixture, her mouth open in disgust. "…Why?" she questioned.

"I can't eat most solid food with my helmet on, so I have to… make compromises."

"Why don't you just take your helmet off?"

"Yeah… I sort of took an oath, so I can't…" I took the time to think to myself. "Well done Spec!" I thought, "You've only gone and made the one and only Weiss Schnee lose her appetite!" Well at least it didn't get any worse. "So how are you feeling, about today I mean?" I urged, trying to change the subject.

Weiss managed to break the hypnotic effect of my slop, and looked at me. "Oh, um, I was actually hoping to ask you about that," she said, "I was hoping you would consider being on a team with me. An outstanding fighter such as yourself and an intelligent girl such as myself could make a formidable combination."

I'll be honest, I considered pretending to take offence at that comment, but after her reaction to my joke earlier, I decided it wasn't a good idea. Instead I replied honestly. "I appreciate the offer, Weiss, but I prefer to let fate determine the people I work with in the future. That said, if I were to be partnered with you today, I certainly wouldn't complain."

For a moment, she seemed to be processing my response, trying to understand my reasoning behind my words. Then she smiled. "I see. That is a very open way to think of things; I would expect no less." I was confused as to whether she was speaking truthfully, or just covering up a lie. It was hard to tell, or at least for me it was… "Well, would you look at the time," Weiss said, suddenly standing, "We had better get to the locker rooms and prepare for the initiation trails." She left her still half-filled plate on the table and turned to me. "Would you care to join me?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," I replied, deciding that it'd be better than going alone. I grasped the strap of my bag and rose from the bench, only to realise that I too had not finished my rather gruesome breakfast.

As I picked up the flask, Weiss looked at me in suspense. "Surely you're not going to…"

I took one last slurp of slop, only stopping when a miscellaneous chunk got stuck in the straw. Swivelling my head around, I sought out a bin and proceeded to pour the remainder of my 'Delight' into it. The sounds were best not described. Nor was the smell… Returning my gaze to Weiss, I realised that she had grimaced through the whole thing, holding her nose to keep the smell away.

"Sorry."

She held her hand up. "No, just… Come on…"

* * *

><p>We walked into the locker room, where plenty of other people had already gathered to make ready for the challenge ahead. The room itself, like the dinner hall, was very long, with lines of lockers fixed to the walls and partitioning the room into three rough corridors. Ever since we left the dinning hall, Weiss had grown quiet, focused, just like when she was about to sing on stage. Either that or the slop incident had made things too awkward. Again, I couldn't really tell...<p>

Eventually, we reached the rest of our group; there were thirteen in all, with Weiss and I included. We were the first to take to the field and set the benchmark for the students to follow in later rounds.

Weiss stopped at the edge of the group. "Well," she said, "I will use this locker here." She opened the locker in front of her. The numbers '184' were stamped on the front. It seemed that unlike me, she had already picked out a locker, as her weapon was already inside, ready for use. It was a masterfully crafted rapier, the metalwork holding a light grey colour to it. She sheathed the elegant weapon at her hip and returned to talk to me. "Now that I have all that I need, I wish to talk to some of the other students. If you'll excuse me."

"Sure thing," I nodded. While she started to mingle with the others, I claimed the locker to the left of hers, number '183'. I then opened my duffle bag, put on my finger-less gauntlets, and checked the convergence gems on the back of them. They started to glow a faint green colour, showing they were active. The same glow started to emit from deep within my bag, showing that the recovery gems fitted to the pommels of my weapons had responded. I delved underneath my alternative clothing to reach for them. "The Grey Knight is not needed this day," I thought to myself in quiet amusement. After clearing the way for my swords, I stepped back and held my hand outward. One of the swords, _Grimm's Doom, _lifted into the air and floated slowly toward me. Once it was within arms reach, I grasped the _Doom's_ sheath, just above the hilt, and started to inspect it.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" My head spun to the voice that addressed me. It was Ruby. Before I could so much as utter a word, she continued. "You were like, 'sword, come to me!' and the sword was like, 'sure, I'll just float over to you' and… That was so freaking awesome!"

I hesitated. "Uh, thanks…" I said awkwardly.

Then I saw Yang approach; she was giggling to herself. "You've just been 'Rubied'," she said punching my arm, "But I'll admit, that was pretty cool."

"The other one does that too. Watch." I raised my other hand and _Fall_ shot from the bag like a bullet from a gun, landing nicely into my hand.

Ruby squealed in excitement, dancing from one foot to the other. "You have two? That's so cool! What else do they do?"

"Maybe you'll see later on," I replied, locking the sheaths to my back, "So what do you use?"

Her face lit up even more. "Oh, I'll be right back." Before I knew it she had sped off down the locker room, leaving nothing but rose petals in her wake.

"Super speed?" I asked Yang, putting my bag in my locker.

She was still watching Ruby flash down the room. "Yep," she replied, without looking away. A few moments passed, before she turned to speak again. "Yeah… she's kinda a dork when it comes to weapons."

"You two don't look very alike for sisters," I pointed out.

"Oh, were actually half-sisters – we have different moms. What about you? What are your parents like?" That question I couldn't answer. I have no memory of them, nor do I even recall ever knowing any parents.

Before I could answer though, Ruby returned, bringing a swirling cloud of red petals with her. "I got this thing," she said pulling out a hunk of red metal shaped like a rectangle with corners cut off and rounded. The shape then folded out into a huge twin-bladed scythe. I thought it was a miracle that she kept control of such a large weapon. There were few that could.

"Wow."

"It's also a high impact sniper rifle," she added helpfully.

"Nice," I said, genuinely impressed.

Her heart must have melted in response. "You like it? That's just so…" She finished that sentence with an excited high pitched squeal.

Before things got too heated, Yang pulled her away. "Sorry about Ruby," she said happily, "It looks like she's taken a liking to you already!"

"Yeah, you don't say."

She giggled again. "Well, I'll talk to you later Spectre!"

"See ya," I replied with a short wave. We then returned to our preparations, of which most of us were ready. I closed my locker and punched in a six digit passcode for future use. I then moved to the bench closest to me and sat down to load _Doom _and _Fall _with both .50 calibre dust and explosive rounds. The twenty round dust clips were loaded into a magazine housing just below the hand guards. The explosive rounds however, were around the size of a muscle builder's thumb, so they had to be loaded into a tube parallel to the barrel, similar to a pump action shotgun. My swords held ten of these each. That made sixty shots, so potentially sixty kills at range. Initially, my blades felt significantly heavier, but as I carried them, and used them, they would feel lighter.

Once I had finished, another pair of students caught my attention. There was a girl with brown hair and pink attire chattering away to a boy. He had long black hair tied back into a ponytail, and his clothes were green. It must have been like talking to a brick wall.

"Nora," he said to the girl, a pair of pistols in his hands. They both had downwards pointing bayonets at the end of their barrels.

"Yes Renn?" she replied.

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

"That's why it's perfect! Nobody will suspect were working together!" I didn't catch the earlier parts of the conversation, but it must have been interesting to say the least. Who knows just how those two ended up together?

"Could make a good story one day…" I thought.

After giving my swords a few swings and calibrating their laser sights, I sheathed them and tested their weight on my back. Satisfied, I turned to make my way down the room, but collided with a familiar breastplate wearing student. Cardin. He looked down at me with a smug expression on his face.

"Hey Spectre. Have a nice sleep last night?" He must have been referring to my meditation and the fact that I left the ballroom early in the morning.

"You could say that," I replied bluntly, folding my arms.

The grunted at that. "I didn't know you were so popular! Weiss Schnee huh? She's not an easy bird to catch, but you seem to be already in there. I heard about that little fight last night too, half the school probably knows by now."

"It's complicated. And let half the school think what they like – chances are it isn't true."

Cardin started to laugh in response. "Say, the more I talk to you, the more I like you Spec!" He then swivelled me on the spot and pointed out a group of rough looking kids. They were like a trio of vultures the way they looked at us, expecting something to happen.

"You see those guys?" Cardin asked, "I want those guys on my team, because they and I are on the same wavelength. But I like you, I _really_ do. So I'd like to offer you a place to be on my team. Oh don't worry about those guys, I'll just pick one and boot them out, enough said. So what do you say?"

The words going through my head were somewhere between, 'Na, you're alright mate' and 'F off', but I settled with the polite option: "We'll see how things turn out, shall we?"

"If you're sure Spectre," he shrugged, "You know, I'm actually kinda disappointed. I was really looking forward to working with you. We would've made a great team."

"Oh, I'm sure we would," I said sarcastically.

"Anyways, no hard feelings Specie-boy! I'll see you around." As he moved confidently to his group, only one word came to mind.

"Prick," I muttered under my breath.

My thoughts were cut off quickly however, as the intercom blurted out a new message. "Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliffs, immediately."

"Time to shine," I thought to myself as I strode off into the light of the outside.


	3. Chapter III

Author's Note: Hello people of the internet! I am glad to present chapter three of Spectre B2F. I don't want to keep you too long this time, but I just want to say thanks for sticking with me (and Spectre of course)! Also I'd like to know if you would like me to release chapters more regularly (where I can). Once again thank you and enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter III: Initiation<p>

'_Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path…'_

There was a soft breeze in the air. The few trees around us and the thick forest below rustled accordingly. There were thirteen of us, stood in a line, facing the cliff edge with only the sky above, a steel tablet below, and two adults ahead. There was nothing behind us – no reason to turn back. I was the first, placed on the far left of the line with two of Cardin's goons to my right. That wasn't an issue though; we were all focused on the task ahead.

"For years we have trained to become warriors," Professor Ozpin began, "and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Many of you have heard rumours of assigning teams," Miss Good-Witch put in, "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates – today."

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. So it is your best interest to be paired with whom you work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing, will be your partner for the next four years."

There was some commotion from other students further down the line. Nevertheless, he continued:

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way; do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you _will _die."

A few nervous looks were exchanged among us.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as you are standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

My end of the line was silent, but at the far end someone started to ask something I couldn't quite make out.

"Good," Ozpin said cutting him off, "now, take your positions."

Like everyone else, I braced, my stance low, knees bent to propel me as far into the air as possible. Being first along the line, I was the first to enter the forest. With a faint click, the springboard threw me up into the sky, the others only seconds behind me. I swept the rushing ground below for a clearing, so I could actually see where I was landing. I spotted one, and Void-Jumped into the green.

* * *

><p>I was glad that the clearing was as big as it was. Jumping from high speeds made it hard to predict exactly where you would land; emerging in the ground or inside a tree trunk didn't really appeal to me at the time. I landed just off from the centre of the almost perfectly circular clearing, emerging into a roll. Holding my kneeling stance, my left hand in the grass and my right on <em>Doom's <em>grip, I listened to my surroundings. The leaves rustled gently in the wind.

"It's too quiet…" I thought.

The ominous silence was suddenly broken by the discharging of dust weapons and whooping of a girl flying above me.

"Yang…"

Then I heard a twig brake to my left. I snapped my head to face the noise, but didn't see anything in the dense vegetation. The only part of my body that moved was my head. I scanned the area to my front and side, moving very slowly. The wind still whistled around me. The leaves still waved like a sea of green.

The rustling was much louder now, and there was a snuffling noise that couldn't have less than a few metres behind me. It crept ever closer, its hooves trudging in the grass. Yet I still didn't move. I didn't want to advertise the fact that I knew of its presence. As it got closer I started to draw _Doom _from its sheath. Runes were now visible along the blade. They began to glow the same faint green as the gems in my gauntlets and pommels. The snuffling turned to an angry squeal, and the Boarbatusk charged.

I Void-Jumped, emerging in mid-air directly above the Grimm. I then dropped down and plunged _Doom _directly between its bone armour plates, shattering the spine. The beast made one final squeal in pain, then fell silent as smoke started to rise from its fallen body. Not a moment later, four more Boarbatusks barged though the foliage from all sides, spinning like wheels of death. They circled me, trying to lure me into confusion. This was natural herd behaviour for them, something that I had seen a few times before. I Jumped once again, this time perching in a tree. As the Boarbatusks noticed my disappearance, they slowed to a stop, sniffing at the ground where I had just been. This was the opening I needed. I pointed each of my swords at a Boarbatusk and fired. The dust rounds hit one in its eyes, shattering the skull, and the another though the spine. As the other two tried to figure out what was going on, I pressed the attack, dropping down from the safety of my branch and charging them. As they turned, I managed to use my swords to flip one on its back, stabbing into the soft underbelly. Before I could recover however, the final Boarbatusk grappled _Doom _and threw it across the clearing. It then rammed me, knocking me on my back. It turned as I made it to my knees, ready for the killing blow. I stood, ready to counter as it began its charge. Then at the last possible moment, when it was closest, I lunged forward with _Fall _and shot off an explosive round. The front half of the creature's body exploded into red mist, the odd chunk of flesh and bone littering the clearing. I quickly dived to the right as the remainder of the Boarbatusk still skidded towards its target.

"Bad piggy," I said standing from my roll.

Recovering my weapons in a manner that Ruby would be proud of, I quickly discovered that I had lost my bearings and had no idea where to go. With height being the only viable form of navigation, I cut through the forest, finding a large tree. Once I Jumped to the top, I found that this, besides the cliff we had started from, was the highest point for a few miles at least. Scanning the horizon for anything even slightly resembling a temple, I found a curious stone structure poking just above the treeline. It was easily a couple of miles away, ground that I felt I needed to cover quickly.

Seeing no other option, I Void-Jumped high into the air, sky diving down to the structure below. The air rushed around me like a hurricane, my arms locked outwards to control my descent. From above it was clear that my hunch was right; I had indeed found the abandoned temple.

All I had to do was get there alive. "Simple," I thought.

Suddenly something black and pointed flashed past my face. I snapped to where it came from, but saw nothing but the sky's seamless blue. Then a larger force whooshed overhead, and the familiar shape of a Nevermore came into view. Things got a little less simple from then, as the bird swung around for another attack. It hurled a flurry of black feathers in my direction.

"Oh hell…" I cursed, spinning my body to avoid the oncoming storm. My vision was darkened by the shear mass of projectiles sent towards me, and I felt a short, sharp pain in my right shoulder. A quick glance proved that I had been hit, a feather the size of my arm had sunk into my flesh. Before the pain started to sink in, I tried to spot the Nevermore. It lingered higher up in the sky, its prey clipped and falling to its grave.

"Not today, birdie." I focused my aura and Jumped just above the Nevermore, crashing on top of it. Shrieking in panic, the bird tried to shake me off, but my swords were plunged firmly into its wing. With one pull of the triggers, I detonated two explosive rounds, shearing the wing from its body and blowing me clear. The beast kept shrieking, but now it was in pain. Regaining my composure, I Jumped once more to the ever closing ground, landing in a kneel, head down, swords pointed behind me in an underhand grip. A few painful seconds later, the ruined carcass of the Nevermore slammed to the ground behind me.

Releasing a breath of relief, my attention then turned to the feather sticking out of my shoulder, which was growing to be painful the longer I left it there. I reached back and snapped off everything above the stalk, then proceeded to pull out the remainder from the wound. The harder I pulled the more it hurt, and everything around me started to go blurry. After one final effort, and a grunt in pain, I tore the dart from the wound, almost falling to my knees from the force I applied. "Just a flesh wound," I thought.

Recovering myself, I looked back to inspect the lump of flesh that was trying to kill me a minute ago. It was fairly mediocre as Nevermores go, not giant, but not tiny either. Perhaps a bit bigger than an Ursa Major, but still very dangerous. I landed not too far from the temple; I could see the stone structures through the trees. "I wonder if anyone else has made it there yet," I thought to myself as I ploughed my way through the ever thinning undergrowth.

* * *

><p>The temple was a crumbling, rounded structure with no roof. Five stone pillars held up the walls, while the other three had fallen. Within the ruins, amongst the moss and rubble, where twenty four pedestals each holding a chess piece. The black bishop pieces were the only two missing. I approached the centre of the circle, scanning the area around me for Grimm before turning my attention to the relics. I was uncertain as to which one to choose, or even if I was allowed to choose. "Each <em>pair <em>must choose one…" I thought.

"Hey Spectre!"

I followed my ears and found Yang entering the ruins, with Blake not far behind. I gave a short wave. "Oh, hey guys."

"Where's your partner?"

"Besides you two, I haven't found actually found anyone to be paired with yet."

"Oh, that's a shame… So, how long have you been here?"

"Not long, I've only just got here."

Blake lingered around the black queen piece. "Chess pieces?" she questioned.

"Some of them are missing," Yang said, "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well, I guess we should pick one…"

"Agreed," I nodded, "I'll keep watch."

"Ok," Yang replied happily. I stepped to the edge of the circle scanning the trees around me. Nothing. It didn't take long for a decision to be made. Yang held up the white knight piece. "How about a cute little pony?" she said triumphantly.

"Sure," Blake responded, not too phased by the idea. They met in the centre.

"That wasn't too hard."

"Well, it's not like this place is difficult to find."

Yang then spoke to me. "Now it's your turn to choose one Spectre."

I hesitated, the same thought springing into my head from before. _Pair. _

"Spectre?" For some odd reason I saw Shadow. She wasn't standing, she was… floating. Her face was paler than I thought was even possible. But her message was clear. The white bishop.

"Spectre!" My head returned to realism, and Yang was staring deep into my visor, her hand gripping my arm tightly. Her face was the very picture of concern. "Are you OK? I thought we lost you there."

I placed my free hand on my head. "Yeah, yeah… I'm fine." Where my hand had been, I felt the spiked vents across my scalp. My helmet had been switched to combat mode without me noticing.

"Are you sure?" Yang pressed.

I switched out of combat mode. "I'm sure."

She hesitated before letting me go. It was a damn tight grip she had too. I turned to the relics, picking out Blake as I did so. She had a look of worry on her face; a worry of whom however, I could not say.

"The white bishop…" I muttered to myself.

Suddenly a scream echoed around the forest. Our heads spun to the source.

"Some girl's in trouble!" Yang said, "Guys, did you hear that? What should we do?"

More screaming could be heard, this time from above. Blake and I glanced upwards to see Ruby falling from the sky. Without a moment's notice, I Void-Jumped to a position to catch her. Then, to my surprise, a blonde haired boy in plain white armour collided with her, sending them both into a tree.

"Really?" I thought aloud.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked Yang.

"I…"

Suddenly an Ursa's groan emanated from the treeline. It then emerged, flailing its claws wildly, and toppling the trees in its path. A flash of pink quickly followed behind the beast, accompanied by a 'Ye-ha!' The Ursa then flopped to the floor, a girl rolling off of it.

"Aw," the girl in pink said, "It's broken…"

Her friend, the boy in green, appeared from behind the Grimm shortly afterwards. "Nora... Please... Don't ever do that again."

Then before I knew it, the girl was already mesmerised by one of the chess pieces, the white rook. She then began to sing 'I'm queen of the castle', before she was cut off by her friend.

"NORA!"

She giggled. "Coming Renn!"

The three of us gawked at her in shock.

"Did that girl just ride in on an _Ursa?_" Blake asked.

"I…"

Then an animalistic shriek resonated in the air. An instant later, red haired girl sprinted out of the treeline, a giant Deathstalker hot on her heels.

"Jaune!" she shouted.

"Pyrrha!" came a voice from the tree Ruby had crashed in. Not a moment later, Ruby jumped down to join us.

"Ruby!" Yang said.

"Yang!" Ruby replied, attempting to hug her. Then out of nowhere, the girl in pink appeared once more. "Nora!" she said, completely ruining the moment.

"Did she just run all the way here with a _Deathstalker_ on her tail?"

All this commotion was pretty intense, but it hit Yang the most. Her eyes turned red and her hair blazed. "I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again!?"

That certainly got everyone to shut up.

"Um, Yang?" Ruby asked pointing upwards. We all looked up to see Weiss riding a Nevermore, holding on for dear life. "How could you leave me?" she shouted down to us.

"I said jump!" Ruby replied.

"She's gonna fall…" Blake pointed out.

"She'll be fine."

"She's falling…" Renn stated. Without a moment's notice, I Void-Jumped to a position to catch her… but I didn't catch her. I caught Jaune instead. We stared at each other for an awkwardly long moment.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"My hero…?" he replied. A split second later, Weiss crashed down on top of us both, landing comfortably on the throne that was Jaune and I.

"My heroes…" she said sarcastically.

"My back…"

"_Your_ back?" I replied near the point of outrage. That was the second time he had screwed me over in the last few minutes, so I wasn't exactly happy with him.

"Great, the gang's all here," Yang said, "Now we can die together."

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby challenged, sprinting off towards the Deathstalker.

"Ruby, wait!"

She sped towards the beast, but her blow was easily batted away by its claws. She was on the floor now, slowly rising to her feet. "Don't worry! Totally fine!" Her next shot against the Deathstalker bounced harmlessly off of its armour. With no other option open to her, she withdrew back towards us, the Deathstalker not far behind. Yang started running to help her, but even with both of them, they'd be mincemeat soon. I pushed Jaune off of me and Jumped parallel to Yang, sprinting alongside her with _Doom_ and _Fall_ in hand. The Nevermore Ruby and Weiss had commandeered loomed overhead, shrieking at its new found pray. This one was a good size bigger than the one I fought, making it a lot more dangerous. It hurled a rain of deadly feathers towards us, catching Ruby's cloak and pinning Yang where she was. I glanced in her direction just in case, but she was fine.

"It's up to me now…" I thought.

"Ruby get out of there!"

"I'm trying!"

The Deathstalker raised its stinger to jab. In a last ditch, I Jumped in front of Ruby, crossing my swords in a defensive stance. I knew that it wouldn't be enough, but I saw no other way…


	4. Chapter IV

Author's Note: _It's time to say hello! _As per usual, I shall grace you with my presence and offer you the next chapter to my story. I would also like to proudly announce that I have now broken into double digits for follows to this story, including author follows (GG peeps, you know who you are!). As a thank you and a treat, I will be releasing not one, but _two _chapters of 'Spectre: B2F' next week.

Also, I will be taking part in a series of crossovers with other writers and their stories. These writers are: CJ Foxy ('Before the Beginning'), Elxroid (story is yet to be published) and (maybe) SirDerpsAlotThe7th ('You and the Gang'). These guys are great and I really like their stories (or stories to come). They have all contributed to present and future chapters, so be sure to give them some attention.

(Oh, and one more thing... I've noticed that when I've said Bull_dogs _in past releases, I really meant Bull_heads_. Just one of those little things that really got to me that's all.)

Other than that, keep up the good work guys - you're the best! Now, once more into the fray!

* * *

><p>Chapter IV: Initiation (Part 2)<p>

'…_or you _will _die.'_

Suddenly, a flash of white glimmered before me. It was if time had frozen just when we needed it, the Deathstalker's stinger mere inches from my visor. Regaining my bearings, I discovered that the stinger was quite literally frozen, not in time, but in ice.

"You are _so _childish."

"Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"And dim-witted, and hyperactive," Weiss continued, "and don't even get me started on your fighting style. And, I suppose, I can be a bit… difficult. But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show-off, I'll be… nicer."

"I'm not trying to show-off," Ruby countered, "I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine," she replied. Then she turned to me. "Spectre, what you did there was heroic, but foolish. What if I was too late, and the Deathstalker hit you?"

"What if I hadn't taken out Garrath and his men, back at the White Castle?" I said, letting the comment sink in for a few moments. "And besides," I continued, "I'd rather it be me to take the blow, not her."

She looked at me with pitiful eyes. "I just can't figure you out Spectre. If you'd like to talk to me about anything, you only need to ask."

"Thanks Weiss, I'll think about it."

With a nod and a sad smile, she left to join the others. At this point Yang was free of the feather darts, and ran up to us, quickly wrapping her sister in her arms.

"I'm so happy you're OK!" she said releasing the hug. To my surprise, she then put me in a deadly bear hug too. "Thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done without Ruby!" She then mercifully let me go. "But why? Why did you risk your life for her?"

I found myself asking myself the same question, but I already knew the answer: "Trust me, I know what it's like to lose someone close to you… It's horrible; _nobody_ deserves to go through such pain…"

Her face dropped. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Before I could reply, the Nevermore growled, looming higher in the sky, preparing for another attack.

"Guys, that thing's circling back," Jaune pointed out nervously, "What are we gonna do?"

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying," Weiss said, "Our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby backed her up. "She's right our mission is to grab an artefact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live. That is an idea I can get behind," Jaune agreed.

A plan now devised, Ruby and Jaune selected their relics, the White Knight and the White Rook respectively, and made ready to fall back to the cliffs. By this point however, the Deathstalker was beginning to escape from its prison, the ice encasing its stinger starting the crack in response.

"Now would be the perfect time to leave," I thought, moving towards the others. Only I couldn't. Only then had I registered the cold feeling in my foot, and looking down I realised that it was stuck in the ice this whole time. Despite my best efforts, my foot simply refused to be dislodged, and seeing as I'd rather not die by Deathstalker, I called for more desperate measures. "Uh, guys!" I shouted, "A little hand over here!"

Both Weiss and Yang quickly made their way towards me. "Oh, that's a problem…" they both said simultaneously.

"Don't suppose you have some way of retracting this, do you? Or some salt maybe?"

"I can't retract it," Weiss replied, "But I can try something else…" Whilst she was delving into a satchel, Yang had already grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me out. It was a good effort, but I wasn't budging. More cracks were appearing in the ice by the second, and once it broke, we would certainly be dead.

"Stop!" I said drawing _Doom _from my back, "You guys get out of here."

"What are you going to do?" Yang asked desperately.

I rose my blade above my head. "For the wolf to survive, it's got to chew off its own leg."

"Spectre…" Weiss said breathlessly.

"No!" Yang said trying to stop me.

"It's the only way. Get out of here!"

"No it's not! You are _not_ chopping your leg off!"

"Yang…"

"I said NO!" she screamed, igniting the very air around her, "I won't let you do something as stupid as chopping your leg off to escape a Deathstalker, when it clearly isn't the only way!"

For a moment, I felt the entire forest fall silent. There were no leaves rusting and there was not a sound from any of us. Even the Deathstalker had finally shut up. Yang was catching her breath and I was still shocked by the whole thing. It was Weiss that broke the silence.

"Uh, guys…" she said pointing downwards. We both looked down, and the ice trapping my foot had withered away. It turned out that Yang's uproar had provided enough heat for the ice to melt. Surprised, we stood staring at the tiny puddle for a few more seconds, still processing what had just happened. Suddenly, an ear shattering cracking noise returned me to my senses, realising that the Deathstalker was still right next to us. With one last effort, and a mighty roar, the beast pulled its tail free, and was gathering itself quickly.

"Time to go, ladies," I said grabbing them both and Void-Jumping back towards the pedestals. I ran in, grabbed the White Bishop chess piece, and with Shadow's blessing, I sprinted after Yang and Weiss as they caught up with the others.

* * *

><p>Now united, we rushed deeper into the ruins. The area was huge, tall pillars supporting ancient roofs. They ran alongside us, as if boxing us in towards our enemy. We took cover behind the pillars in pairs; Ruby and Yang, Weiss and Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha, and Renn was with Nora. I joined Ruby and Yang at the front. The Nevermore loomed ahead, waiting for the right moment.<p>

"Well that's great…" Yang put in helpfully.

To make matters worse, a pack of Beowolves, perhaps thirty or forty strong, surged over the hill towards us.

"Oh, not these things again…" Weiss said uneasily. With the support of the Nevermore and the Deathstalker, the already numerous horde would be near impossible for us to defeat. _Near _impossible.

"Think you guys can take the big fellas?" I asked the group.

They all looked at me sceptically. "You want to take on those Beowolves _by yourself?_" Jaune asked.

"Yep." There was an awkward pause before anyone could interject.

"You think you can take them?" Ruby asked, repeating the question.

I switched to combat mode, all the confidence in the world. "Can I?"

She hesitated. "Can you…?"

"Of course I can," I snapped, "Now these Grimm aren't going to kill themselves, are they?"

Then the Deathstalker smashed through the trees behind us.

"Oh man, run!"

We burst from cover and darted through the open ground. Weapons discharged and feathers whizzed by. I Jumped franticly to avoid the black hail, still advancing on the Beowolves. They too were running now, covering the ground with speed that could only be animalistic. A shot from Nora's grenade launcher put an end to the feather storm and cleared the way for the final charge. The rest of the group ran across a bridge crossing an enormous chasm, luring the larger Grimm away from the fight on my side. Now I was alone, my enemies before me, nothing to distract me.

"Let's do this."

I leaped the final metres towards the pack, swinging _Doom _and _Fall _in a short arc, unleashing explosive hell amongst the Beowolves in front, leaving little else but chucks of singed flesh. Once I had landed however, another group were already one me, teeth snapping and claws bared. I dodged and struck, slashing one clean in half. I stabbed another through its gaping mouth, then decapitated the one behind it. The pack quickly surrounding me, I leaped into a spin, using a fallen Beowolf as a stepping stone, and mowed down several with my gun-swords set to full-auto. One by one the beasts fell by my blades, my fury leaving none alive. I finished the last by throwing _Fall _at it, then blowing it apart by using the recovery gem to fire a point blank explosive round into its chest. The creature's death only contributed to the stink of smoke that now filled the air. It was a smell that I associated with two things – barbecues, and victory - but not barbecues.

I sheathed my weapons just in time to see the Deathstalker topple into the abyss below. Nora, Renn, Jaune and Pyrrha had done a good job together. I emerged from the thickening smokescreen, and joined them at the chasm's edge. Jaune was the first to see me, staring at me with his mouth wide open.

"What?" I asked eventually.

Pyrrha answered for him. "You look a bit… messy."

I looked down and noticed just how blood-soaked my clothes had become. I'd even go as far as to say they weren't black anymore. I didn't smell too great either; it was like somebody had tried to smoke body parts and have them for dinner. Jaune looked like he was going to be sick. Then he _was_ sick. He managed to pull himself to the chasm before vomiting over the edge. At least _most _of it ended up down there…

After checking Jaune was OK, Pyrrha returned to me. "That was a lot of Beowolves there, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have any doubts…"

"Trust me, I don't blame you," I replied, "You did well against the Deathstalker. All of you did."

Pyrrha and Nora smiled at my phrase. Jaune was still vomiting and Renn was too tired to care.

"I wonder how the others are doing…" Pyrrha said gazing behind her.

We looked for the others, and found them absorbed in battle with the Nevermore. Somehow Weiss had managed to freeze its tail to the cliff, keeping it from flying off. Then Yang and Blake tied her chain scythe between two pillars, a bit like a giant slingshot. Ruby then fitted herself into the string, using one of Weiss' glyphs to hold her in position. After a moment, the glyph disbanded, and she was sent flying through the air, using her sniper-scythe to increase her speed. Her feet hit the cliff smoothly, her scythe blade catching the Nevermore by the neck. A long line of Weiss' glyphs sprang up from thin air, making a path to the top of the cliff. The bird's noose now sealed, she ran up the chasm's wall, dragging the Nevermore with her. Its doom lay at the top, as the sheer force of the scythe tore through its neck and ripped its head from its body.

Not a word was uttered among us. We only stood in awe of the swirling red figure upon the cliff, her cape catching the wind like waves on the sea. Words came to mind to describe the moment, but now was not a time for words, it would only ruin the moment. It must have been near enough a minute before the silence was broken.

"Wow," Jaune said.

"Wow indeed," I replied.

* * *

><p>"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark," Professor Ozpin began, "The four of you retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester."<p>

A round of applause filled the assembly hall. It was here that the results of our initiation would be announced. I had my doubts about being called up. I had not made a partner, so unless someone else had taken the second White Bishop, I wouldn't even be in a team, full stop.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Renn, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Once again applause echoed around the hall. When it came down to events like these, I usually like to find a shady corner and observe, not attracting any attention. But this was different.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

And there it was, one final applause before the curtains close. For once in my life I had actually wanted to be up there, to be openly accepted into the new life before me. But it seemed that this would never happen.

"Spectre."

The crowd murmured in confusion. I looked at the stage to see that the professor had found me on the edge of the crowd. He beckoned me up to the stage. As I climbed up the steps, the crowd grew louder, eager to see this unexpected event.

"Spectre, you alone recovered the White Bishop piece. It is rare for students to emerge without a partner to aid them."

I swallowed down the saliva that had built up since my name was called. I was anxious to see where this was going.

"Nevertheless," Professor Ozpin continued, "you have proven that you are more than capable of dealing with situations that some other teams would struggle with."

It was then that I noticed that footage of my encounters with the Grimm had flashed up on the screens.

"Not only this, but you are able to use your abilities to assist other students, just as they will do the same in return."

Now my various meetings with the others were shown for the school to see. I hadn't actually been asked permission for the footage to be used; I didn't even know that this was coming in the first place.

"Henceforth, you must start your journey through Beacon alone, but you will have many friends at your side. From this day forward, you will work with your peers as Lone Spectre. Congratulations." The crowd clapped and cheered for me. It seemed that they were impressed. I'll admit, the feeling felt daunting at first, but it soon turned warm and comforting. I had made it, Beacon Academy…

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year."

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before evening fell upon us, the broken moon rising to assume its position, looking down at us from the night sky. We were shown where we were to rest our heads for the next four years. Upon scaling multiple flights of stairs, we came to a long corridor dotted with doors on either wall. We flocked around the dorms, anxious to see the living conditions. Team JNPR's room came first, then Team RWBY's just opposite them and mine was the next one after that.<p>

Upon gazing into the first two dorms, I found a good sized room with four beds, split into pairs either side of a window in the centre of the far wall. There were also en-suite facilities with a shower, bath and toilet to the right.

"Seems quite homely," I thought. Once Team JNPR had retired to their room and Team RWBY were more or less settled in, I made for my room. But then something occurred to me. "Where's Blake?" I asked.

It was Yang who answered. "Oh, she went off to the library. She said she had some reading to do or something…"

"Isn't it a bit late for that?" Weiss questioned. I nodded but said nothing.

"Well either way, I'm sure she'll be back soon," Ruby said in a carefree tone, "Don't you want to see your room Spectre?"

"Yeah I do, the thought just hit me that's all… Anyways, good night guys." I moved from the doorframe and into the corridor, followed closely by various 'good nights' and a closing door. I approached the next door down. It, like the others before it, had no lock. The door was locked and unlocked via the personal scrolls that each student was issued after passing their initiation. I chose to mount mine on my left wrist; it wasn't an advanced tac-pad like the one I used in Forever Fall, but it was a close second. When my fingers wrapped the door handle, the locks clicked open and I pushed through the door.

The room was dark and untouched, only the light from the corridor and the moon through the window let me see. That's what made me tick. The window was wide open, the wind blowing the closed curtains gently. In the other rooms, the window _wasn't _open, nor were the curtains closed…

I turned and closed the door behind me, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. I froze and listened for anything out of the ordinary. The curtains flapped and I could the faint sound of people in the distance. Then the floorboards creaked.

"Should have guessed you'd be here," I said without turning. As soon as I heard a rush of air behind me, I Void-Jumped ten paces backwards. Blake slammed into the door with a small groan.

"I suppose I've got some explaining to do…" I continued. She recovered quickly, raised her sword and lunged for me again. This time I Jumped to the side, and she hurtled onto the bed behind me.

"…that said, so do you." Even as I spoke she had thrown her chain-scythe, wrapping it around my waist. Before I could react, she pulled me off my feet and onto the bed, moving herself to kneel on top of me with her sword at my throat.

"Why are you here?" she threatened, "Are your employers out to kill me?"

"I should be asking you the same question."

"I think I'm in a better position to ask the questions."

I knew she was right, and so did my throat. "Alright then. I am no longer employed by the Blades and I came to Beacon to find another life. You know the rest."

"You're lying," she said pressing her weapon deeper into my throat.

"Am I? Because I've got a feeling that you're here for the same reason."

She hesitated, then sheathed her sword and stood from the bed releasing a sigh as she did so. I exhaled; I wasn't sure whether my hunch was right or not, but it paid off.

"When I came here, I thought I could leave the past behind me, all those bad things I've done, all that hate…" She turned to me. "Then I saw you last night. I wasn't sure that it _was _you at first, but during the initiation when you're helmet…"

I switched into combat mode as a demonstration.

"Yeah, that. I didn't feel safe from then on, so, I had to make sure."

I hesitated before answering. "I thought the same, but what you did on the train, you saved dozens of innocent lives. That is not the action of a White Fang operative. That is why I left you alone and held back."

"So you believe me?"

I nodded in response.

She made her way to the door, but before opening it she turned again. "I need to know one more thing. The guy that was with me, Adam, is he…"

"I didn't kill him," I said, "I defeated him, then handed him over to the Atlesian military for interrogation. I'm afraid I don't know anything past that point."

She processed my answer, then opened the door. "I think it will take me a while to trust you completely, so…"

"I understand," I said cutting her off.

She stood there for a few more seconds, before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. The lock clicked into position and silence had fallen in the room. It wasn't long before my body grew heavy, and I fell into what would hopefully be a restful period of meditation.


	5. Chapter V

Author's Note: Dear readers,

Here is the first chapter of my double release week for 'Spectre: B2F'. Just something I'd like to ask you guys: Would you like me to post a Q&A chapter once this story is done? If your interested, can you post your thoughts via the poll on my profile please? Any questions can be PMed to me and I'll post any answers in a final chapter for this story. Questions can be directed towards me or even Spectre if you want.

So without further ado, Chapter V:

* * *

><p>Chapter V: Educating Beacon<p>

'_All the action will be happening at the front.'_

My thoughts of a restful meditation were short lived, as to be expected. Yet again the 'Arch Grimm' taunted me in my dreams as it always did as of late. Like my previous visions, this one was new to me - or at least I think it was. This was the first time where I couldn't see anything, like a veil of black smoke clouded and whirled around me, blinding me. But I could hear just fine; the familiar arctic wind, the popping of my ears… the booming voice that I could never seem to forget.

I glanced at the time on my scroll. 03:47. It was still dark outside, and once again I was the first to wake from the previous day. I never tidied up from the night before either, so the window was still wide open, the wind lapping at the curtains as if not a minute had passed from the events the night before. I moved forward and closed it, relishing in the sudden warmth the room provided. How I managed to rest in such frigid temperatures was beyond me, but I suppose we all surprise ourselves sometimes. With little things to my name and most of my gear in my locker, there wasn't really any unpacking for me to do. When I was ready for my morning run, I checked the time. 03:58. That left me five hours to kill before my first lesson.

"Better get started then," I thought striding towards the door, and slipping into the corridor without a sound.

* * *

><p><strong><em>[Here's to SirDerpsAlotThe7th, Lord of all things Pancake. Thanks for drowning me you glorious bastard. :) ]<em>**

04:49. I had completed my lap of academy grounds and checked my weapons locker, making sure that everything was in order for when I needed it. After that I had an early breakfast, this time deciding to mix things up a bit compared to the day before. I concluded that some pancake mix could make things a little sweeter, so I confronted one of the cooks about it.

"You ain't got no pancake mix!" the man replied when I asked him.

"Yes, I know," I replied, "But what I want to know is if _you _have any pancake mix."

"I got _all _the pancake mix!" he stated happily, indicating to the mixing bow on the side.

I honestly questioned his sanity at this point. "That's great," I said calmly, "Can _I_ have some of your pancake mix please?"

"Aw hell no!"

I sighed. "Can I know _why _I can't have any of your pancake mix?"

"Cus you ain't got no pancake miiiiiix!" We looked at each other for a moment. The odd thing was he looked completely serious about the whole thing. I just sighed and walked out, not another word said.

* * *

><p>By the time I had finished my breakfast and changed into my uniform I checked the time once more. 05:21. A good three and a half hours to go.<p>

"I'm gonna get bored_ very_ quickly if this happens every day…" I thought staring out the window.

With no other viable option in sight, I soon found myself ascending to the roof to watch the sun greet the world. I was sat on a higher part of the roof, completely tranquil, my mind at peace just as it had been at this time on the previous day. Then I heard the door from the stairs open behind me. I turned my head slowly to find Ruby gazing out into the sunrise, just as I was, only she was on at lower point than I was so she didn't see me.

"_Morning_," I said.

She nearly jumped out of her skin, and span to seek out the mystery voice. She finally looked up at me. "Oh… morning Spectre."

"You're up a bit early aren't you?"

"Yeah… I can't sleep…" She looked like a zombie, for lack of better words.

"Neither can I," I replied dropping down from my perch, "You wanna talk about it?"

"Weeeeeell…" For a moment she seemed to stop mid-sentence. Then: "OK. I just think that being a team leader and all… it's a pretty… big thing…"

"So you're worried?" I finished.

"…Yup."

"Is it also because you're younger than everyone else?"

"…Yup."

"And because there seems to be a lack of cookies here, which apparently you like _a lot._"

She stared at me blankly.

"That's a _bad _thing, isn't it?"

"…Double yup."

"Oh you poor thing…" I said sarcastically. She was too tired to care, or even notice for that matter.

After a moment, she made that quite snuffling noise that was her chuckle. "I bet you get things sooooo easy… y'know… not having a team or anything…"

"That's not true," I said placing my hand firmly on her shoulder, "Where I must endure a life of loneliness, you have your teammates by your side at all times. You have people to count on when I don't. Things may seem hard at first, particularly in your case, but I promise you it will all pay off in the end."

There was that blank look again.

"You did understand me, didn't you?"

"…Yup," she nodded clumsily, "In fact, I think that I… I feel kinda… sleepy…"

And with that, she fell forwards, her softly snoring face dug deep into my blazer.

I chuckled quietly to myself. "Come on you, let's get you to bed."

I carried her downstairs and used her scroll to get into her dorm. Briefly looking around, it seemed that no one had been stirred by Ruby's early morning venture. I softly plopped her down on her bed and pulled the duvet over her. It wasn't that neat of a job, but to be caught in this situation would be incredibly awkward. I turned to leave and I froze. Yang was now leaning over and looking in my direction. From what I could make out in the dark, she was pulling that cheeky half smile that I had grown accustomed to.

"Thank you," she mouthed.

I stuck my thumb up and nodded in response, then silently moved back into the corridor, closing the door behind me.

* * *

><p>I had been waiting patiently outside the lecture room for quite some time. 08:33… It was only then that Professor Port decided to show up.<p>

"Ah, my first student of the day," he said pompously, "It is nice to see one so eager to learn. What is your name?"

"Spectre, sir," I replied whilst standing up.

"Spectre, eh? Come on in." He opened the door and indicated for me to take a seat. "Anywhere will be fine, but all the action will be happening at the front."

Despite this, I chose a seat at the back next to the door, dumping my things under the desk. I had no notepad or pen, I only needed to listen in closely. I had a habit of remembering things like that, plus chances are I'd already learned whatever this lesson consisted of in the field.

Just as I sat down however, the professor addressed me: "You wouldn't care to give me a hand would you?" He was referring to a pair of iron cages at the bottom of the room. "I only need you to push them into place while I guide you to the right spot," he continued as I walked down to him. Grabbing one of the cages, I began to push it forward. Whatever was inside kicked out and snorted in response.

"Just a little more, and… Perfect! Now on to the other one."

I did just that, this time asking: "Planning to use these Boarbatusks sir?"

"Well done Spectre!" he replied sounding impressed, "You have clearly experienced such a beast before."

"Once or twice," I grunted moving the second cage next to the other one. It gave me the same response as the first as I made my way back round to Port.

"It is rare to have a first year student be so knowledgeable about Grimm from their first few days here," Port continued, "I think it would be good for you to spread that knowledge to your fellow students."

"I don't see why not…"

"Excellent! I won't let you steal _all _of the spotlight though," he chuckled. It was odd how his moustache moved as he laughed. His belly wasn't exactly still either…

"Now, I would take your seat if I were you; the others will be joining us shortly. Thank you for your help by the way."

"No problem, sir." When I took my seat, I finally had a moment to look at my surroundings. Other than the blunderbuss-axe mounted on the wall, it was more or less your average Grimm Studies room – not that I knew what they were like or anything, but I had a general idea. There was even a golden bust of Port's head near the teacher's desk. It was true that the professor was considered a hero by some, capturing Grimm isn't easy, but I didn't think he would be quite so open about it.

People had started to enter the class now, I didn't see anyone I knew, but I had faith. I glanced at my scroll. 09:02…

"Hurry up, we're going to be late!"

"We _are _late! C'mon it's just over here." I looked to the door just in time to see Team RWBY rush into the room with Jaune not far behind.

"_Morning_," I greeted.

They all smiled and waved and said good morning back.

"Ah girls, it's a pleasure for you to join us," Port said accusingly.

Jaune stepped forward cautiously. "Um, sir? I'm actually a boy."

"Hm? Ah yes, how foolish of me. Anyway, take your seats students." The only spaces for them to sit together were at the front, where all the 'action' was. Once they were comfy, Port kicked off the lesson.

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey. Ha ha!"

The silence said it all. I think the grasshoppers were amused though.

"Uh… and you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy."

"Nice save…" I thought.

"Now as I was saying," he continued, "Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more but to tear you to pieces. And that's where we come in. Huntsmen. Huntresses." He paused as he attempted to flirt with Yang. I think she laughed it off pretty well, all things considered.

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. From what you ask? Why, the very world!"

At least he got one kid to cheer for him this time. He quickly sat back down though after he completely embarrassed himself.

"That is what you are training to become. But first – a story. A tale of a young, handsome man. Me!"

Noticing that this story had nothing really to do with Grimm Studies, and how nobody in the room found it interesting, I drifted my eyes down to where my friends were sat. Ruby was scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Somehow I just knew they weren't notes. The reactions when she showed the others supported that thought. They stopped laughing though when Professor Port cleared his throat.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my shear tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast held in captivity, and my head held high – celebrated as a hero!" At this, he bowed.

"I don't see how smelling of cabbages can help you capture a Beowolf, but hey…" I thought.

"The moral of the story," he _still _continued, "A true huntsman must be honourable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated and wise." The funny thing was that Ruby doing the complete opposite of those things and Weiss was having none of it. I silently chuckled to myself.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do sir!" Weiss said, her hand shooting up straight away.

"Well then, let's find out." He pointed towards the first cage. "Step forward and face your opponent!"

* * *

><p>After a few moments to prepare, Weiss stood ready to face the Boarbatusk. She stood side on, head up, shoulders back, right foot forward but not that forward, slowing her breathing and waiting for the right time to strike. Naturally her team cheered her on whilst I stayed silent, letting her concentrate.<p>

"Alright, let the match begin!" Professor Port said as let his axe fall, breaking the lock to the monster cage. The door fell forward and the Boarbatusk jetted towards her as fast as its little legs could carry it. Weiss slashed and leaped to the side, both opponents turning to face each other.

"Ha ha! Wasn't expecting that were you?" the professor mocked.

After more supportive shouts from Ruby, they both lunged at each other, meeting in the centre. To her surprise, Weiss got her sword caught in the Boarbatusk's tusks, not too different from what happened to me in the Emerald Forest. The beast tossed the sword aside and knocked Weiss backwards, leaving her defenceless.

"Ho ho! What will you do without your weapon?" Port questioned. I swear if this guy made anymore 'ha ha's or 'ho ho's, he'd be Santa Claus.

The Boarbatusk was already charging again before Weiss could stand. If she rolled a split second later, it would have ended badly. The Grimm bounced off of the wall and onto its back, giving Weiss the time to recover her weapon.

"Weiss go for its belly!" Ruby shouted helpfully to her, "There's no armour under…"

"Stop telling me what to do!" she snapped back at her. Returning her attention to the fight, she witnessed the Boarbatusk's ability to perform a rolling charge first hand as it shot towards her. She countered by deploying a shield glyph to protect herself. The beast hit the glyph like it was a brick wall and bounced to the ground, its underside now exposed. Weiss then finished by using the glyph to eject herself towards her foe, stabbing deep into the soft flesh and slaying it once and for all.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Professor Port praised, "It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training!"

She moved back to her seat, tired and deflated. Then Port turned to me.

"Spectre, would you like to test yourself?" The class spun their heads my way, expecting a show. Shrugging, I took _Doom _out of my bag and moved down to the floor.

"Spectre has had a lot of experience with Grimm before joining the academy. He has agreed to show us a few things."

"I didn't think you'd ask me so soon…" I muttered taking Weiss' position in front of the cage door.

"Whenever you are ready," Port added.

I clicked my neck and limbered up a little. When I was satisfied, I switched into combat mode, and held _Doom _in a two-handed grip. "Go."

With a curt nod, Port opened the cage. The Boarbatusk looked around the room seeking its target. When it finally spotted me, it grinded it's front hoof against the floor and charged. At the last possible moment, I sidestepped, swinging my sword down on its front legs. It toppled over, landing on its back and using the momentum of my attack, I spun with my sword held high and fired a clean shot into the beast's belly. With a sharp screech, the beast lay still - dead.

"Outstanding!" Professor Port said leading the applause, "If you use those skills consistently, you are going to be a great hunter one day, perhaps even surpassing myself!"

As nice as it was, I couldn't help but feel singled out again. This isn't what I wanted, to be seen as something above… I moved back to my seat.

"Spectre, that was so cool!" I heard Ruby say as I passed. I pretended not to notice. Taking my seat, the professor continued.

"Now that was only _one _species of Grimm," he said, "There are many others, but there are six common types. We first we have the…"

I'm not ashamed to say that I zoned out at this point; Professor Ports lessons weren't the most entertaining ones out there. It seemed the class agreed with me too.

"Spectre." I blinked behind my visor and looked to address him. "Do you have anything else to add about Grimm species?"

I hesitated for a moment, searching for something to say. Then: goldmine. I walked down to the teacher's desk and found a piece of paper to scribble on. "Has anybody heard of the 'Arch Grimm'?" I asked. The following silence confirmed my suspicions. "It is an ancient species of Grimm that lived from humanity's birth. As its name suggests, it is seen as an alpha or leader among the other Grimm species, using some sort of power to command and rally lesser beasts."

"Ah, you must be referring to the 'Daemon', as it is more commonly known," Professor Port interrupted, "But there have been no reported sightings nor is there any sufficient evidence to prove that one still lives. Hence they are extinct."

"Trust me sir, that isn't true."

"Oh? I suppose you can prove me wrong? Nobody even know what one looks like."

"Then you may want to see this." I gathered my paper and pinned it to the board alongside the other sketches of the common Grimm. There it was, the 'Arch Grimm' as I saw it. Just looking at that sketch gave me a headache… The class stared in wonder, even the professor had raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting…" he muttered.

"There are indeed no recorded images to base this drawing off of," I finished, "Believe me, the 'Arch Grimm' _is real_." There were mutters from the group now, curious to see the professor lose the debate.

He stroked his moustache in thought before answering. "And you saw this creature in the flesh, yes?"

"That's right."

"Do you have any further evidence?"

I stopped, hesitating before making a decision. I knew I had the footage from Grimm's Respite, it had never left my side since I received it in fact, but I didn't know…

"Yes…" I decided holding up the memory card.


	6. Chapter VI

**WARNING: This chapter is pretty dark and very dramatic, but it explains key parts of the plot whilst progressing it at the same time. **

* * *

><p>Chapter VI: Revelations<p>

'They'd love nothing more but to tear you to pieces_...'_

It took a minute or two to get the projector screen up and running.

"No turning back now…" I thought to myself.

"Well, it's ready when you are," Professor Port stated, his personal scroll in hand ready to play the video.

Before he started though, I said: "If you don't mind sir, I'd rather control the video myself. It's kind of personal…"

"I understand," he said handing me the scroll.

After mentally preparing myself for what I was about to see, I sighed and addressed the class. "What you're about to see is classified to the highest tier. It _does not_ leave this room. Understood?" They all nodded. "Good," I concluded, turning to the screen.

At the push of an icon, the screen flared into life. A girl appeared on the screen, she had long chestnut coloured hair and had white tattoos on her face.

Shadow.

"_This is BM Operative Codename Shadow conducting a preliminary report for assignment number: 08963. Classification: Tier One. My brother and I will be leaving for the ruins known as 'Grimm's Respite' at 1900 hours. There we will be investigating high levels of Grimm activity."_

Watching the footage gave me lumps in my throat. It was nice to finally see her face again. Alive.

_I had now entered the room, my helmet clicking into place as I finished putting it on. She turned to me._

"_Hey Spec, are you ready to sign in?"_

"_Yeah, I'll be right there Shad." I moved out of the camera's field of view for a few moments._

_Shadow sighed to the camera. "I worry about him sometimes, I really do…" _

_I then moved back to the camera. "This is BM Operative Codename: Spectre reporting in. I will be assisting Shadow in this assignment. Our objectives are previously stated."_

I quickly found myself muttering my lines to myself, word for word. Snapping out of my trace, I began to fast forward the video to a more appropriate point. I continued playing when we were in the treeline, scouting out the area around the ruins. I remember them well; they were high atop a huge rock connected from top to bottom by intricate cave systems. The area between us and the caves were open and teeming with various Grimm. They were all alert, as if on guard.

"Spectre, can you pause the footage please?" Professor Port asked. I did just that and he continued. "There are many species of Grimm that can coordinate their minors, as you can see here. This however, seems to be something else entirely. Notice how those Beowolves are scanning the treeline; normally they would be attending to whatever their kind does, but here they appear to be constantly on guard, as if protecting something… Carry on Spectre."

I thumbed the icon and vid started to play again.

_We were crouched down low, concealing ourselves in the undergrowth as much as we could._

"_This side seems to have the least Grimm," I said to Shadow. _

_The camera was attached to her helmet, so the screen shook when she nodded. "Yeah…"_

"_You don't seem so certain. Have you… seen anything?"_

"_Nothing that will help us here," she replied eventually, "C'mon, I'm ready. You?"_

"_Always."_

"_Then let's go." She grabbed my arm and I Void-Jumped the gap between us and the Grimm. We surged forward, weapons drawn. I was in front, firing off shots with _Doom _and _Fall _as I advanced. Shadow leaped up in the air, releasing a scattershot into the rabble with her bow, _Death's Whisper. _The black arrows from her weapon tore through the ranks of the Grimm; for every shot fired, at least one fell._

I had always admired her grace as she bombarded her foes from a far. It was like a dance of silent, shadowy death – I grim thought I know, but in our line of work, it can sometimes define us as Hunters or Huntresses.

_Before we knew it, a larger Ursa had withstood Shadow's endless volley and was going in for a mortal blow. Then with a bone-shattering crack, its head recoiled back and its body flopped to the icy ground, a gaping hole in its skull. The camera turned to me, my blades pointed to where the beast had stood._

"_I got you," I said._

_Shadow straightened up from her braced stance. "Thanks bro," she breathed._

"_Any time." I sheathed my weapons and made my way to her, not noticing the two remaining Beowolves behind me. Shadow's hand sped to her bow._

"_Spectre, freeze!" In an instant, I did so and she shot off another scattershot. The projectile split into two, whizzing past both sides of my head and slamming into the Beowolves behind. _

_I looked behind me to inspect the damage. "Thanks sis," I breathed, turning back to her._

"_Any time," she replied happily. Then we laughed for a few moments as the irony sank in._

"Is that really what my laugh sounds like?" I thought. The odd thing is, I don't remember actually laughing, like full-on laughing, past that point. I had not laughed for _two months_ – _two long months_…

Seeing as the trek through the caves wasn't too eventful, I fast forwarded to the peak of the rock pillar. The ruins themselves.

_We emerged from the darkness of the caves and directly on to a small area of stone flooring, intricately carved and showing no sign of age. There was a flight of stairs directly in front of us, almost daring us to climb them. And we did. Not a word was uttered as the main plateau came ever closer. Only the arctic wind and the roars of the Grimm below could be heard. The camera didn't even pick up our footsteps; whether we really were that sneaky or the background noise was too loud, I will never know. _

_Once the stairs had come to an end, we were greeted by a husk of a structure. It was circular, the walls shattered in places but mostly intact. The same couldn't be said for the roof or the opposite end of the ruins however. There was no real way of defining what Grimm's Respite was in ancient times, but there was a gothic look to it, with the odd stain-glass window here and there. _

_We searched the area, not quite sure what we were looking for. Or what was to come. _

"_Nothing?" I asked to no one in particular._

"_No…" Shadow said still figuring things out, "There's something here, I can feel it."_

"_Feel what?"_

"_I can feel a sort of… buzzing. I hear it too. Can't you hear it?"_

"_No." I hesitated before continuing, "Wait, isn't this just like…"_

_She nodded slowly._

Before we even knew about his place, Shadow had seen a vision. This vision had stayed with her for quite some time, and at first we didn't know what to think of it. But now I know.

"_It's getting stronger…" Shadow said, clutching her head now._

"_What's getting stronger?"_

"_The buzzing, Spec… It feels like my head is going to explode…" She fell to her knees, groaning in pain._

"_Shadow!" I ran towards her and kept her upright. "Talk to me! What do you see?"_

"_I'm as good as dead Spectre…"_

"_To hell with that! What. Do. You. See?"_

_That was the scary part. She was so still, so cold, it was almost like she had turned to stone._

"_It's here…" she said raising her head slowly, her voice only just a whisper._

"_What's here?"_

"_It's here for me… You need to run…"_

_I made her visor level with mine. "Never."_

_Suddenly, there was the flap of wings and a heavy thud behind me. At this angle, the camera could only see a large bone-plated foot with cracks in the stone floor from its landing. Shadow's breathing was heavy and shaky. She was scared. She never had been scared before, but she was scared._

_With time running out quickly, I spoke one last sentence to Shadow: "I will protect you until my last breath, just as you always have done for me." I gripped her on the shoulder one last time, and turned to face my ultimate foe. _

_The camera now had full view of the monster. It was three times taller than I was, and had thick bone-armour greaves up to its knees. Its hands were bigger than its torso, and in its right was a bone sword of huge scale, capable of tearing through anything that met its edge. It looked like some sort of distorted human, except for its head. It had no nose to speak of, only a pair of holes, like a skull but with a papery layer of black flesh. Then there was the mouth, nearly big enough to swallow me whole, lined with teeth the size of my hands. Large bovine horns protruded from the sides of its head, and its eyes… they were the most menacing feature. Its glare could sunder entire armies if it wished. And yet still I stood against it._

_I charged, unleashing a battle cry as I closed ground. The beast's roar tore through me, sapping me of my strength, and the arctic winds became a blizzard around us. It was so thick that it clouded the camera's lens, making Shadow blind to the duel that raged on though the whiteout. _

I reflected on that tragic moment, how the beast pushed me back again and again. I remember it swinging a back hand with its gargantuan fist, sending me hurtling into a wall, barely clinging to consciousness... Then it came for Shadow.

_The beast reached out for her, wrapping its long bony fingers around her and holding her up to the sky. It opened its mouth, smiling maleficently into the camera._

It was almost as if it knew I was watching...

_Shadow's groans grew into mutters and mutters grew into silence. Her body became limp, and her head dropped._

"_NOOOO!" An explosive round slammed into the side of the Grimm's face, taking a bloody chunk from its upper jaw and cracking its right horn. It screamed in pain, deafening my ears and echoing for miles around. Realising it was vulnerable, it fled to the skies, dropping its prize before taking flight. _

_The blizzard had cleared now, and the camera stared up at the grey that was the clouds above. You could hear me grunting, then a violent crunch as I relocated my shoulder, followed by a sharp howl of pain. _

"_Shadow!" I cried stumbling over to her, "Shadow, talk to me!" I pressed the buttons on the side of her helmet. The vents alongside her jaw hissed to one side, allowing me to take her helmet off. I threw it to one side, the camera still filming the whole thing. _

"_Shadow come on! You're not… You can't be…" I placed my hand behind her head and lifted it up, holding her forehead against mine._

"_No…"_

The film turned to nothing but static. End recording. It was only now that I felt the warm wetness inside my helmet, running down my cheek. Tears. And I didn't care. I stood there for a few moments more, returning to the present. Then I grabbed the memory card, placing the professor's scroll on his desk and grabbed my things from under my desk. I didn't look around at anyone, or even make a sound. Neither did anyone else. I just walked out of the lecture room.

* * *

><p>I closed the door behind me, leaving me alone to the emptiness of my dorm. It had no character to it, nothing that shown it as <em>my <em>dorm. It needed to change.

I moved to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, peering at the reflection of an older boy in a helmet. There was no face. No identity. Just a lone soul with nothing to gain from its existence. A soul that had sworn to never show his true face. Why? I didn't even know my own past, or even what I am now. Was I a soldier? A robot? Was I known for the things I did and not the person I was? So many questions, but no answers…

I placed the memory card next to the sink, pondering on what to do next. Then a light bulb pinged on. "I need to remember…" I muttered, "Remember myself…" Deep down, I knew I was human, I just needed to prove it to myself. Gradually moved my hands to the sides of my head. "What do I remember…?" I pressed the buttons and the jaw vents clunked open. I took a moment to breathe the fresh air as normal people did. It tasted sweet and soothing. I lifted my arms higher and…

Knock knock.

I hesitated, then replaced my helmet, sighing at the interruption, and moved to the door. I opened it about halfway and poked my head around.

"Hey Spectre." It was Yang. Should have figured she'd be the first to turn up. She had her hands behind her back and was looking down awkwardly. "How are you holding up?"

"I've… been better," I said. There was an uneasy silence for a few moments. She must have come straight here, as she was still wearing her uniform.

"Y'know, we're all worried about you. That a pretty intense lesson for all of us…"

"I'll be fine," I said cutting her off, "I just need some time alone, OK?" I went to close the door on her, but she wouldn't have that. She barged into the room and sat on one of the beds.

"Sit," she said pointing to the spot next to her.

"Yang…"

"Now."

"…Really?"

"Yup."

"I'm not a dog…"

"I know, now sit."

"Yang, seriously, I fine…"

"Don't lie to me."

"Oh bitch please…"

"Hey! Don't you _dare_ talk to me like that!" she snapped. Her hair started to glow as she said it, and her eyes turned a blazing red. "Now, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND SIT THE HELL DOWN!"

I really wasn't in the mood for this, but better judgement stopped me from arguing further. I closed the door behind me and Jumped to the bed, sitting next to Yang just as asked.

Her fiery scowl melted away, leaving only concern on her face. "What's wrong?"

"You know."

"Do I?"

I sighed and put my head in my hands. "I failed, Yang. I failed and it cost me her life…"

She rubbed my arm gently. "We all lose people sometimes… it's just one of those things."

"But how many people can say they've lost everything in a matter of seconds?" I asked looking at her.

"You didn't lose everything. You're still here aren't you?"

"You don't understand…"

"Then tell me what's going on."

I looked away, took a deep breath and explained my life story. I started with waking up in the cave, how we joined the Blades and how I didn't ever know any family besides her. "She was the only person, the only thing that I knew from my childhood. What am I if I have no name or legacy to follow?"

Yang sat in silence for a long time before answering. "You came here to escape from it all didn't you?" she said finally, "To use your skills for a better cause, I mean. You're moving on in a way, and she's been gone for a while now - so maybe you should move on about this too…"

"You want me to forget her?" I said raising my voice, "You want me to forget _everything_ she did for me?"

"No, that's not what I…"

I stood and turned to face her. "She made me what I am today. If I forget her, what little I had in the first place will be gone. I will be nothing!"

She faltered. "Spectre…"

"No Yang," I interjected, "I failed to save Shadow and now I am paying the price. How would you feel if Weiss wasn't there to save Ruby in the Emerald Forest yesterday? _You_ failed to save her, and it was luck alone that she stepped in when she did."

Yang was looking down at her lap in otherwise worrying silence.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about..." I finished spitefully.

That was the last straw. She rose and flung an almost invisible punch, hitting me square in the face. I flew backward, my back slamming against the wall behind me. I bounced off, landing on my hands and knees. Now I was _really _angry. I stood back up and kicked the bed in front of me, sending it flying at Yang. It collided with her legs and caught her in a vice grip against the bed we were sat on. I followed up quickly by Void-Jumping forward into mid-air and slamming my fist into her face. After a rolling recovery, I turned to face her, and she answered by hurling one of the beds towards me. With no room to manoeuvre, I took the hit and was knocked back against the other wall in a shower of splinters.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" The rest of team RWBY had walked through the door and witnessed the destruction.

I stood from the remains of the bed, my voice uneven with rage. "I told her to leave me alone…"

"You know what?" Yang said accusingly, "You can have your precious quite time…"

"Good. Now get out of my dorm."

"Fine!" she said stomping to the door, "You're dead to me anyway!" After she left, Weiss and Blake followed her out, still in shock from what they walked in on. Only Ruby was left.

She looked around what was left of the room in distress. "What happened here?" she asked desperately. When I didn't answer, she sped out of the room, probably afraid of what I'd do if she played her cards wrong.

I stood for another minute or two, thinking over what had just occurred. Then I heard crying through the wall. I didn't even care about what I just did; there was no guilt and no remorse. _That_ is what scared me the most…


	7. Chapter VII

Author's Note: Hey peeps. I don't really need to tell you, but here's chapter seven of Spectre B2F. I have recently suffered from a young author's nightmare: writers' block. Nevertheless, upon checking my views, I noticed that this story has broken a thousand views (if that isn't a milestone, then I don't know what is!). This gave me the kick start I needed to _finally _finish off chapter eight; I guess third time's the charm, eh? Anyways, I'll probably start chapter nine tomorrow, and I just want to say thanks once again to the magnificent people that are you guys. Spectre approves. (P.S: to CJ Foxy and Elxroid, spot the references!)

* * *

><p>Chapter VII: Three Weeks Time<p>

'_Anger can be used, or anger can use you.'_

Another day, another early morning. The same nightmare, the same fist I threw into the wall after awaking. It was like life was repeating itself – and I hated it.

Just under three weeks had passed since my fight with Yang, the holes in my dorm's walls proved that. I still hadn't cleaned up the mess from that night either, so it was like living in an abandoned building, ill-treated even when people still lived there. I knew a few people who could relate, but they weren't here to discuss it, nor would I want them to be.

I rarely spoke to anyone, or even left the room for that matter… But when I did, I would do it at night or early morning. What would I do in this time? Whatever the mood takes me quite frankly. Some days I would stock up on food, or just get some fresh air. Others I would go to the library and read, or find something to take my anger out on. This could be anything from Grimm in the Emerald Forest, or a low-life thug that chose to mug someone at the wrong time. Both would die _very, very_ slowly and with a lot of pain too.

Pain. That is what I felt once, and that is what people feel in my presence. Whether it physical or psychological, my newfound anger would cause them suffering. Some people would run or avoid me in general. Some would challenge me but were put in their place. Some begged for mercy, and received none…

My anger was the bane of my existence. Whatever foundations I had built here at Beacon had been toppled down weeks ago. Friendships seemed to crumble, relations were severed and my very person had changed into something less… human. And it grew day, after day, after day…

But some days, I would have a clearer head. My conscious would be clung to the dwindling good within me. On these days I would wonder to myself, what happened on that night? What changed me? What will I become? I needed time to think about these things, and seeing as I had no plans today…

Knock, knock.

I sighed. "Interrupted again…" I thought. I moved to the door and opened it halfway, poking my head out from behind the woodwork.

I was greeted by an unexpected face: Pyrrha. "Hello Spectre."

"Oh, hi Pyrrha," I replied, not quite sure what to expect. She was wearing her everyday combat gear, so she probably didn't have a lesson any time soon. She was looking down awkwardly.

"I heard about what happened between you and Yang…"

"Is this what this is about?" I asked, disappointment brewing.

"Oh, no, no! It's just that everyone else is in a class so I'm kind of on my own right now… I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."

I blinked behind my visor. "Sure," I said without really thinking about it.

"Great!" she said with a smile, "So, what do you what to do?"

"I was going to fix my _teensy little _anger problem, but no sure, I'll hang out…" I thought, cursing myself for my decision. To her it probably looked like I was thinking about her question. "No, actually…" I eventually replied.

She nodded slowly. "I know that you've been spending a lot of time in your dorm, we could just talk in there…"

"No!" I said cutting her off. She looked at me, surprised at my sudden outburst. "I mean, uh… it's kind of a mess in there so…"

The calm smile returned to her face. "Oh, OK then. So maybe we could just… go for a walk?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll just get ready and I'll be right out."

* * *

><p>The whole time, I was kicking myself for going out. "You could be doing something productive, you imbecile!" I kept thinking. I managed to push that to one side however, and focused on the few short conversations I had with Pyrrha. It was nice to actually be socialising again, despite the circumstances. I felt that the monster that I had become had resided back to whatever tainted place it had originated. For now anyway.<p>

It didn't take long for us to find refuge in a café, sitting in the sun of the open air balcony. Pyrrha had ordered a tea, whilst I had orange juice. It was orange and that's all that mattered. Taking my mind away from the peace, I broke the silence.

"You didn't come to me just to hang out, did you?"

"Yes I did," she said, nodding quickly, "I was just worried about you, we all are."

I inclined my head to the side, challenging her statement.

Her shoulders slumped. "_I'm sorry._ It's just that I need your help."

"Go on."

"So you'll listen?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," I said leaning in to listen. It was lucky that she caught me on a good day, otherwise I would have said no and probably got angry and wrecked the place or something. Or at least threw my juice carton at her, and that's not very nice at all...

"Great!" She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "I've got some… issues, to do with bullies."

"Cardin's not giving you trouble is he?"

"No, not me… It's Jaune."

I sighed in response; you'd think that someone from the Arc bloodline would be more competent at being a huntsman. Sadly you'd be wrong.

"What has he done to him?" I asked.

"It's just plain bullying," she responded, clearly disgusted at the thought of it, "Things like knocking his books on the floor and shutting him in his own locker."

"I take it someone got him back out again?"

"Well, Cardin also set up its targeting system, and it shot him off campus."

"Ah…" There was a pause to let things sink in. "So, what do you want me to do?" I asked, "I could break his legs or something…"

"No!" she exclaimed, "You don't need to go _that _far!"

I'll admit, I was a little disappointed. Cardin was the definition of a prick who could _really_ do with broken legs right now.

"What I was hoping you would do," Pyrrha continued, "is maybe teach him how to fight, and stick up for himself." The idea seemed sound, but then I thought of something.

"I thought you were the champion fighter of the group. Why don't you train him?"

"Oh, I plan to. It's just that our classes aren't the same, so we would only get chance to practice in the evenings. If he could work on things outside of class…"

"…He could learn at a faster rate," I finished.

"Yes," she nodded, "It also means that I can focus on the basics whilst you can help out with some things that you are more specialised in."

"So I'll probably cover Grimm studies then."

She winced before answering. "Actually, I've already found someone else for that… _Sorry!_ But you were a mercenary before you joined Beacon, weren't you?"

"Correct."

"That means you've encountered a lot of unique fighting styles, right?"

"Correct again."

"So maybe you could teach him about these fighting styles and point out their weaknesses."

"That's three out of three. Well done! Your prize is my full co-operation in your exploits."

Her face lit up. "Thanks! I appreciate it, and I'm sure that Jaune will too."

"No problem," I said nodding coolly, "After all, basic fighting styles will be good for school, but in the open world, it's rare to find people who only dedicate themselves to one."

She seemed really interested in my words, like I was an old man telling his grandchild a story. It was actually getting pretty awkward now…

"So…" I began, changing the subject, "How are the others doing?" I didn't know whether I actually wanted to know or not. It was probably for the best though.

"Oh, well my team's doing fine," she said happily, "Team RWBY was a little off a couple of weeks ago, but they seem fine now."

I took a few moments to absorb that before asking the next question.

"Do they… talk about me often?"

"Sometimes." Her tone had completely changed now. "When you're brought up in a conversation, they all go quiet, Yang and Ruby in particular."

I nodded in understanding. "They haven't forgiven me then?"

She hesitated before answering. "No… Yang still hates you."

"How much?"

"I believe she said she would 'cut off your testicles and force feed them to you'…" she muttered looking away from me.

I sighed. "That's a lot then… What about the others?"

"Ruby stays quiet and looks down – she used to really like you, you know."

"Really?" I asked putting my juice carton on the table.

"Yes. She never used to shut up about how cool you were, but now…"

It pained me to see how things had changed so quickly. I placed my palm just above my visor.

"Are you OK?" Pyrrha asked with concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine…" I breathed, "Carry on."

She hesitated but continued. "I can't tell with Weiss. Sometimes she's angry, but sometimes she seems sad. She looks like she shows pity towards you though."

Well as surprising as that was, it was also nice to know that I _could _still talk to one of them without something bad happening.

"And finally there's Blake. I don't think you two really talked much, so I don't really know. She can be hard to read."

I sat for a good minute collecting my thoughts, deciding my next move.

"What are you thinking?" Pyrrha asked. I was impressed by her inquisitiveness and by the fact she guessed what I was doing.

"I'm thinking that I haven't decided yet," I said smiling, not that she could see it but it was the thought that counted.

She giggled. "Do you want to know what I think of you?"

I took a sip from my juice and looked back at her. "Humour me."

"I think you're a great person," she said confidently, "You may not realise it, but you influence the people around you in ways you can't imagine." That was certainly a confidence booster, but there was one problem I had with it.

"If I'm such a great person, then why do I shout at my friends and make them loath me?"

She shrugged. "I don't think that was _you _talking. I also don't think – no I _know _that you wouldn't do that. Not willingly… Call me crazy, but I think that there may be something else in play. Something that has sparked a fire within you…"

There was another period of silence between us, as we both considered the idea.

"_I'm sorry… _That's just weird," she said apologetically, "I guess my imagination got ahead of me…"

"Don't worry, it's more than I had a minute ago," I reassured, "I'll definitely consider the idea."

She gave me that 'I'm a granddad' look again.

"What?"

"I was right about the great guy part," she explained, "and I can see why everyone liked you so much."

I chuckled softly, the thought alone cheering me up. "Thanks Pyrrha."

She held the expression and returned to drinking her tea.

* * *

><p>Not having much left to talk about, we soon left and made our way back to Beacon in near enough silence, taking in the sights and soaking in the nice weather. We were plodding along at a manageable pace, when a thought sprung into my head.<p>

"What time is your next lesson?" I asked glancing at my scroll.

"Oh, not until another half hour, so we've got some time left."

"What class is it anyway?"

"Sparing practice, it always is a fun one."

As silence fell between us once more, we took a shortcut through the park. There was a large lake in the centre, a large wooden bridge spanning its banks. A flotilla of ducks circled the lake, patrolling for anything out of the ordinary, while their young kept away from the land. They were such funny things... Just as I thought that, one seemed to glare at me, staring into my soul. Feeling its gaze's affect me, I quickly turned my attention elsewhere.

I found myself focused on a man and his child. They were happy playing hide and seek, the boy counting behind a tree and the dad hiding in a tantalisingly easy spot. I had never considered it before, but the sight made me envious. I had never gotten to do that with my father, not that I know of at least. Despite this, it inspired me; should I ever become a father, I would never let my child live the life of neglect that I had.

Leaving the park and entering the campus again, we reached the fork in the path; the left path led to the dorms and the right to the assembly hall.

I stopped midway. "This has been nice Pyrrha, but I'd better get back to my room…"

"I understand," she said running her fingers through her hair, "I'll keep in touch."

"That'd be great. Thanks again, by the way."

"No problem, I guess I'll see you later then."

"Yeah…"

With that she turned away, still looking over her shoulder and smiling at me for a few seconds before focusing on where she was going.

I sighed. "Back to the way things were…" I thought glumly, as I turned on my heels and made for the dorms. Something stopped me though. I saw a flash of light, and a series of images flicked across my retinas. I could see myself, and Pyrrha. We were fighting together, back to back, taking out other competitors in some sort of tournament. My vision darkened and a voice echoed in my head.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

After that, my sight had been restored and I was dropped back into reality. The vision had a simple message, but a clear one. I made my way down to the assembly hall.

* * *

><p>The hall was empty when I got there. It was a strange sight to see, as the last time I was here, the entire academy was present. The large stage at the front also served as a dueling area for teaching students combat. Being the only one here, with exception to myself, Pyrrha was up there swinging her weapons at the air around her, honing her already masterful manoeuvres with expert precision.<p>

I managed to make it onto the stage before she noticed me, freezing mid swing.

"Nice moves," I praised stopping a few metres from her.

"Oh, I thought you went back to your dorm," she said in surprise, "What made you change your mind?"

"Let's say that a little birdie told me otherwise," I replied, deciding to cover up the vision; it was best not to complicate things.

She lowered her stance, amused by my comment. "Then it seems that this 'little birdie' has made a good decision. You've brought your weapons, so I can guess what you came here for."

I had indeed picked up my weapons on my way there. A friendly spar while we waited for the lesson to start couldn't hurt.

"I've never fought a champion duelist before," I said moving to one side of the stage, "It could be fun."

She did the same, backing up to the opposite end of the stage. "How do you want to do this?" she asked, "We can do it tournament rules or freestyle."

"I'm not used to rules in combat," I replied.

"Freestyle it is then. We'll start on the buzzer." At that, she pulled out her scroll and seemed to set an alarm for a random amount of time. As she put the scroll away, I started counting in my head.

"One, two…"

I pulled _Doom _and_ Fall _from their sheaths steadily, letting my arms fall to my sides.

"Four, five…"

I slowed my breathing, studying Pyrrha's stance. She had her shield raised loosely, her arm at a ninety degree angle, sword at the ready.

"Seven, eight…"

Before we knew it, we were circling each other perfectly. Our focus was a solid wall, as hard as diamonds.

"Eleven, twelve…"

The buzzer sounded, a series of short beeps piercing the air. I Void-Jumped, and by the time the first burst of beeps had ended, I was already on her. My swords sparked against her shield, her defence recoiling back at the speed and ferocity of my blows. Nevertheless, she held strong, so I Jumped to her right and ran in once more. She had enough room to turn her weapon into its spear form, using it in an attempt to keep me at a distance. I was forced on the defensive as I dodged and parried her attacks. One thrust scraped past the side of my helmet, disorienting me for the tiny moment she needed to inflict a good blow. She lashed out with her leg, and I was thrown backwards as her boot collided with my chest.

Landing a good distance away, I curled my back and rolled back to my feet. Pyrrha was waiting for me, her weapon now in its rifle form and its barrel staring back at me. I grunted back at it and slammed _Fall's _hand guard into the side of my helmet. As the familiar armour plate clunked into position, I darted around her, letting my swords spit metallic death at her. She returned fire with cartridges of her own, whilst using her shield to deflect my stream of bullets. The merciless suppressive force of _Doom _and _Fall _combined eventually caused her to stop firing her rifle and focusing on defensive strategies.

As my swords clicked empty, I Jumped straight at her. The shock on Pyrrha's face over the next few seconds were justified; one moment I was firing on her, the next I had forced her shield from her grasp and hurled out of reach. I continued by taking her legs out from under her and knocking her to the floor. She raised her sword in a desperate attempt to defend herself, but I kicked it to one side.

"OK, I've won now…" I thought, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. I raised _Doom _in an underhand grip and was about to plunge it deep into her neck. My mind was screaming for me to stop, but my body wouldn't listen. My sword blade swung downwards. As _Doom _was falling however, Pyrrha moved her hand towards the side of the blade. She didn't actually touch it, but the blade swung wide and sank into the floor next to her head.

"What the…?" Then Pyrrha two-footed me in the face and I ended up on my back again. It gave me a few moments to collect my thoughts. "Polarity, eh?" I thought. It wasn't too long before she was looking over me.

"_I'm sorry!_" she said apologetically, "I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

I didn't answer. I was still trying to make out what just happened. Why did I do that? It was only then that I realised just how worked up I had gotten. A worrying sign.

"You did well throughout, especially at the end," she continued, "I'd say you even won…"

"Call it a draw," I said suddenly biting down the rage just below the surface, wanting to move on.

Pyrrha smiled and offered to help me up. I clasped my hand in hers and in a joint effort, I was pulled to my feet.

"Well done," a familiar voice said from behind me. We both turned to see that it was Miss Good-Witch. "I'm sure the rest of my students enjoyed the last of your _unauthorised _duel."

We both span round to the seating area in front of the stage and there was indeed a class-full of students there. Team RWBY was in the front, and them seeing me nearly take Pyrrha's head off probably didn't do me any favours.

"We're very sorry Miss Good-Witch," Pyrrha said for me, "I will take my seat now if you don't mind."

"Of course Miss Nikos." With that Pyrrha gave me a short wave and stepped down from the stage. Then Miss Good-Witch turned to me: "Now Spectre. It seems that you have recovered from your incident three weeks ago. Would you like to join us?"

I noticed that her steely gaze had turned to treacle, just like on the first day. I looked past her and at Team RWBY. Weiss was giving me the no-go, Blake stared at me uneasily, Yang scowled at me and ran her finger across her neck, and Ruby couldn't even look at me. That was the worst part. I didn't need their input for my answer though.

"Uh, no thanks Miss. I'll just uh… head back to my dorm…"

She examined me for a few seconds before being satisfied. "Very well Spectre, if that is what you feel is best." And with that, I nodded my thanks and exited the hall, wrenching _Doom _from the newly cracked floor as I went.


	8. Chapter VIII

Author's Note: Hello readers. Sorry for the late part, but life decided to bitch slap me in the face and I couldn't do anything in terms of writing over the last weekend. Life, I hate you... Anyways, this part is a bit (quite a lot) longer than I think is ideal, but there wasn't really anything I wanted to cut out, and there wasn't enough to split them into two parts. For some of you this will be hell, for others it will be heaven. I'm sorry and you're welcome. Oh, and apparently I've spelled Miss Goodwitch wrong all this time, whoops (thanks for that Foxy).

P.S: Two words, head-bangs and face-palms.

* * *

><p>Chapter VIII: Road to Recovery<p>

'_Nope.'_

Despite the events of the previous day, I woke up to a red haze. My blood boiled as the hate from my dreams had built up over night. It was a force of habit for me to punch the wall every morning, more so than breakfast in fact. But as I span around to do so, I realised that it was on this wall that I had gathered any and all knowledge of my current ailment. It was now littered with pieces of paper, connected via different coloured lengths of string. It was basically a big mind map come to think of it.

Seeing as my usual spot had been rudely covered up by my calmer self, I resorted to kicking the leg of one of the beds that was still left standing. With every kick came a scream of rage and another crack in its once seamless woodwork. By the time I had finished, the leg was practically hanging off. I gave it one last poke with my boot and it fell to the floor with a wooden cluck, making the bed lean down on its broken corner. Satisfied, I moved to the door and went out for the day's errands.

* * *

><p>Breaking into the library wasn't the way I would prefer do things, even on my bad days. Nevertheless, I knew how important this was to me. I wasn't going to let the opening hours get in my way. And besides, it wasn't the first time I had done this, so it was almost routine for me by now.<p>

I had found the desk that I had grown accustomed to due to my regular visits here. It was dark, the towering bookshelves forming ominous shapes in the gloom. The only light was the one at my desk, the one I used to browse an endless collection of tomes, hoping to find the knowledge that will shed light on the answers that I craved to discover. These could be about the history of Remnant from all sides and opinions. They could be nothing more than a collection of children's stories and myths. Either way, they could be hiding the font of information I was after. Nothing could be overlooked…

Suddenly, something moved in the dark. I snapped my head to the disturbance, but saw nothing but darkness.

"Bookshelves don't move…" I thought, waiting for the opportune time before calling out.

Then there was a noise that sounded like toppling books, followed by a hushed curse.

I sighed. "I know you're there."

Any signs of scuffling stopped abruptly and things became too quiet, like when someone is purposely trying to conceal themselves, but was trying too hard.

"My helmet has limited night vision," I added, "Just as I have limited patience right now, so for your sake, don't push your luck."

That seemed to do the trick, as my new follower stepped out of the darkness and into the circle of light before me.

"Uh, hi, Spectre…" Weiss said, her voice faltering.

"Is this what I've become?" I asked myself mentally, "Now even the Ice Queen fears me…"

When I didn't answer her, she continued. "Isn't it a nice night tonight?"

"Yep," I replied, "It's almost as lovely as this book."

She didn't get the message.

"That I will continue to read…"

She still didn't get the message.

"As soon as you leave," I put bluntly.

It was obvious by the look on her face that she was plucking at straws. Finally, she asked: "What's it about?"

"Hm?"

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

I looked for any sign of humour or trickery. That said, this was Weiss I was talking about…

"It's about Grimm species, old and new," I said, "Supposedly every Grimm that has existed from the dawn of humanity has been recorded in this book."

"So… you're looking for up the 'Arch Grimm' then?" she asked hearteningly.

"Yes…" I said placing my finger on the page and muttering the words to myself. When I finished the frustratingly short passage, I slammed my clenched fist onto the table top, making Weiss jump. "Dammit!"

"Nothing?" she asked nervously.

"Oh no, there was _loads,_" I said sarcastically, "You wanna read what it says Weiss? It says: _'The Daemon species of Grimm has been a centre for storytellers' imagination for centuries and most likely doesn't exist'_. What a load of bull-crap!" As a result, I flipped the front cover over and threw the book down onto the ever growing pile next to me. Then finally, my head hit the desk, all my energy sapped from me.

Weiss probably didn't know what to say, bless her. So I gave her some help.

"Why are you here, Weiss?" I asked without raising my head.

I heard her come closer kneel and against the desk, her head level with mine. "I'm worried Spectre…" she said, all her emotion flowing through, "And not just for you either. Ruby, Blake, Yang… even I'm being affected by what happened in your dorm three weeks ago."

I looked at her now. "How so?" I asked, my tone turning soft.

"Ruby has lost nearly all confidence, Blake's even quieter than usual, Yang has started shouting at us now, and…"

She paused to collect herself; she was breathing heavily.

"Stay here," I said, standing and moving off into the gloom. I returned with a chair from another desk and placed it opposite mine. "Sit down." As she did so, I asked her a question: "And what about you?"

She took one deep breath before answering. "I just don't know what to do… I spoke to Professor Port after the class that… you know…"

Sadly I did know, but I tried not to linger on it.

"He said that I should think more as a teammate, and not for myself," she continued, "That's what I'm trying to do, but… I don't know what to do," She sighed. "It's tearing us apart, and I don't want that to happen…"

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to do here; people rarely came to me to pour their heart out. I gingerly leaned forward and outstretched my arms. Lord knows how I came to this, but after a moment's hesitation, I was embracing Weiss Schnee, Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, in a hug. After reassuringly patting her on the back, and resisting the urge to say 'there, there', I released her.

A sad smile came to her face as she blinked away the tears forming in her eyes. "Thank you."

I nodded to show my understanding. "You've come to the right person," I said returning to the topic, "It's my fault that things are how they are, so it's my job to fix it." I then grabbed the next book to my right and opened it up. "I just need to find the right information…"

I heard Weiss move round in front of my desk and she slammed her palm over where I was reading. "You really thing _that's_ going to help?" she asked sceptically.

I looked up at her. "Well, if I can find the source of my little problem, I can stop it."

"But that won't help _us_ will it?"

"In the long run it will, yes."

She looked at me disapprovingly, her arms folded.

"What?"

"You need to talk to Yang."

My eyes widened. "No."

"Why not?"

"I just… don't think that's a good idea."

"Why? I _know _you can do it. And so does Pyrrha."

I sat back, deciding to switch the subject to something I was more comfortable with. "So she talked to you then…"

"She talked to all of us," she said leaning forward, "I was the only one who listened – or the only one who's doing something about it anyway…" Then there was a sudden look of realisation on her face. "Hey, you're changing the subject!"

My head hit the desk once more, my cunning plan foiled.

"You really don't want to talk to her, do you?" Weiss asked squatting down in front of me again.

I shook my head in response.

"Are you going to tell me why?"

I considered the question, then nodded. "I'm afraid, Weiss…"

"Afraid of what she'll do to you?"

"Well… kind of," I said, raising my head, "She did say that she'd chop off my balls and force feed them to me…"

"I'm sure any boy would be afraid of that…?" Weiss put in, trying to be helpful.

"But what gets to me more, is what_ I_ could do to her. If she makes me angry again, I… I could kill her…"

Weiss grabbed my helmet and turned my head to face her. "You won't kill her."

"And how do you know that? I've done it before. How do you know that this is an exception?"

She could have asked about that, but she didn't. She only focused on what mattered. She placed her finger in my chest. "Because the Spectre that we all know and love, is still in here. I'm talking to him right now, and I don't think he's a cold-blooded killer. Do you?"

I didn't answer. I don't even think I could answer. Were things really what I thought they were? Had I taken the wrong approach all this time? I'd have to reassess everything…

"Look," Weiss said breaking my concentration, "We've got a field trip to Forever Fall tomorrow. We're all going. If you want to fix this, you can come with us. If not… then I wish you good luck."

And with that she was gone, swallowed by the darkness. Just as soon as I thought she was gone, I heard someone trip over another pile of books, then a slight squeal just before they hit the floor. I sighed, rising from my seat to help her.

* * *

><p>The weather was nice on the day after. You could say it was the perfect day for a field trip, funnily enough. I'll admit, I always did prefer it here in Forever Fall compared to the Emerald Forest. It was just generally nicer here, the forest itself was much less overgrown compared to the other one. If you came here early enough, you could witness the sun breaking through the deep red of the leaves. <em>That <em>was a thing to see in your lifetime.

I was told that Miss Good-Witch had set us a specific meeting place before we moved deeper into the forest. As I made my way there, I could see Weiss and Pyrrha hanging around just inside the treeline. When Pyrrha saw me, she beckoned me over. "Great, you're here!" she said happily.

"We were worried that you wouldn't come…" Weiss said.

"Well… here I am," I replied bluntly, "Why are you guys here and not with the others?"

"We figured that if we all walked in together, it wouldn't be so awkward," Pyrrha put in.

I nodded to myself. "That's a pretty good plan actually…"

"Good," Weiss said, "And I'd hate to rush you, but they're kind of waiting for us…"

"Right," I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, "Let's go then…"

It took me a few seconds to realise that my feet wouldn't listen. Had my body really locked up over this?

Pyrrha placed her hand on my shoulder. "We're right behind you."

Weiss did the same. "Now, and forever."

I glanced at them both, and they smiled back at me; the combined vigour they gave me built my confidence to the point where I could move again. That was a start at least. After a nod, they both removed their hands and followed me into the clearing.

Just as Weiss said, everyone else was present and waiting impatiently for us. Miss Goodwitch was the only one facing our direction, so she was the first to speak. "Spectre, so good of you to join us," she said to advertise my presence.

The whole class fell silent and span round in our direction. Nobody knew what to say; I suppose they didn't want me to rip their heads off or something. Yang looked at me blankly then ignored me entirely. Just as I was going to say something, Weiss butted in:

"Yeah, that's right! Spectre's back, and he isn't going to take any messing around from anyone!"

Pyrrha and I face-palmed as one and Team CRDL howled with laughter.

Weiss turned to us, frustrated by our reactions. "What? What did I do?"

"Thanks for trying Weiss…" I replied, deciding to leave the rest unsaid.

"Quiet students!" Miss Goodwitch commanded, "Time is ticking and remember, we have a job to do here." And with that, she led the way further into the forest.

* * *

><p>I'm surprised that Weiss and Pyrrha were so relaxed about their 'friendship fixing duties'. We had been walking for some time now and they hadn't so much as uttered a word to push me closer to Yang. There was some unwanted conversation though…<p>

"Hey Specie-boy!" Cardin said as he walked in step beside me, "From what I hear you've been having some girl problems, I hope things are going well for you."

"Shut up Cardin," I said without looking at him.

"Oh c'mon, Spec. You know I'm just trying to help. Were buddies, remember?"

"Right…"

He put his arm around me, rather tightly I might add. "Look, I know you're mad that you screwed things up with Yang, but hey, Weiss clearly likes you…"

We both span around and looked at him. "WHAT?" we said in unison.

"See?" he said confidently, "You two are clearly made for each other. I'm such a great matchmaker, aren't I?"

Before I could lop his head from his shoulders, Weiss pulled me back and spoke to me in a hushed tone. "I _hate _him!"

"Then why did you pull me back?" I asked, "I would have given him a world of hurt…"

"Oh no! We're going to go it – together."

"Aw, how sweet…" I said, slipping in the joke. You see, ever since I tried to joke around with anyone, I had had the least success with Weiss. Actually, make that no success whatsoever. So, I've made it my personal goal to try and make her laugh at one of my witty remarks, quite the challenge I know. This occasion was not my lucky day however.

She glared at me, and I felt a foreshadowing pain in my balls.

"Relax Weiss! I'm just kidding!" I said quickly, "So how do you suppose we do it?"

"Nora said we should break his legs…" she said with her evil plot expression suddenly brewing upon her face.

"Funny that," I replied, smiling evilly, "I was thinking the exact same thing…"

"It's a plan then…"

"I call dibs on the right leg."

She looked at me like a child who'd just gotten their toy nicked off of them.

"But _I _wanted to break his right leg…" she said suddenly upset.

"Come. Keep moving students," came Miss Goodwitch's voice from further down the path. That was when we realised just how far we'd fallen behind.

I turned to Weiss. "We'll settle this later."

"Yes, we _will _settle this later," she said.

"Cool beans."

"Yes…"

"Like, cool as KitKats?" I said attempting to humour her again.

She looked at me in oddity. "No…" She then ran off after the rest of the group.

I Jumped to her side. "Take a break?"

"No…"

"Sharing is caring?"

"No!"

"How about a chunky?"

"DEFINATLY NOT!"

* * *

><p>When Weiss spoke to me next, she still wasn't happy with me. We were at the area where we supposed to collect the sap from these special trees, or something. I wasn't really listening at the time, which is really unlike me come to think of it… Anyway, there I was and:<p>

"What are you doing?"

"Collecting sap, like I'm supposed to," I replied, not looking up from my work.

"You have twelve jars already," she pointed out. She wasn't lying either.

"Spares?" I replied looking at her hopefully. She wasn't amused, her hands on her hips and her face looking down at me disapprovingly.

My head hit the tree trunk. "I don't know what to say to her Weiss…"

"What have you been doing all this time?" she asked, expecting the wrong answer.

"Thinking of what to say to her."

"Wait, so you mean to tell me, that _all _this time, you've been thinking of what to say to Yang, and you _still _haven't come up with something?"

I nodded. I could hear the slapping sound of Weiss's face-palm and prepared myself for a lecture.

"You could just be straight with her…"

We both turned to find that Pyrrha had now joined the conversation.

"You really think so?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. I know that's what I'd want if I were in her position," she finished.

We both looked to Weiss for her input.

"I guess it could work?" she said unhelpfully. We took it anyway, and Pyrrha gave me one last look.

I sighed, looking at Yang. "Here goes..." She was alone, focusing on tapping one of the trees. Whatever driving force kept me going was doing a good job, I was only metres away from her now. And finally, the last hurdle…

Yang heard my presence and spoke without looking up. "Hey, you couldn't pass me that jar over there could you?"

I hesitated, surprised by the sudden turn of events. After a moment though, I played the game, passing her the empty jar.

"Thanks, I really suck at this tapping thing…" she said, completely unawares.

It was then that I upped the ante.

"I've got a few spares if you want them," I said as calmly as I could. She froze, then turned her head to me, that same blank face from before staring back at me. She didn't reply.

"Can I… have a word with you?" I asked unevenly.

She stood in response, turning to face me with her arms crossed, expecting a speech. A speech wasn't what I'd use to describe what she got though.

"Look, I know I was a bit of a dick back when… y'know. And I know that you were just trying to help and…" I sighed, "I'm sorry…"

She stared at me still, her gaze slowly killing me from the inside out. It was a painfully long moment before she spoke again.

"Do you like scrambled eggs?" she asked bluntly.

"Wha…?" Before I could even finish, she punched me in the balls. I collapsed into a ball on the floor in perhaps the most pain I had ever felt in my life. When I tried to speak, I could only curse. I didn't think that my voice could go so high either.

"That's for what you did that night," Yang said accusingly, "Now get up."

It took me a while, but I got there, struggling to stand straight. She scowled at me now and bared down on me until she was as close as she could get without touching me. I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst.

I felt a tight feeling, as if she was trying to crush me with her incredible strength. I opened my eyes and found she was hugging me.

"And this is for saying sorry," she finished.

I released my breath in relief, but sucked it straight back in again as her hug tightened.

"Why would I ever want to hurt such a delicate little flower?" I managed to get out between breaths. Then Yang's breathing became unsteady; I could feel it against my body. I quickly became concerned and managed to push her off. To my relief, she had burst out with laughter. It was a nice sound to hear and I'll admit that it was very reassuring.

"A delicate little flower, huh?" she said as she calmed down.

"Yeah… Ironic isn't it?"

She didn't answer; she was looking at something over my shoulder. I turned and found Ruby standing there, watching us closely with Weiss behind her.

"She probably had something to do with that," I thought.

Ruby hesitated, and only came to us when Yang said it was OK. I stepped forward to her and said: "Hey."

"Hey…" she said back, rubbing her arm and not making eye contact.

"I owe you some answers too, don't I?" I stated.

She hesitated, then nodded. "Yup…"

"Well, I think I'm better now," I said reassuringly, "Now that I've fixed things with Yang at least…"

She didn't answer, and still wasn't looking at me.

I thought a little about what I said to her next, then stooped down to her level. "How scared were you that night?"

"Really scared…"

It was something I didn't want to hear, but I shoved it back and continued.

"And how scared are you now? Honestly?"

"A little scared…"

I shrugged. "I guess that's an improvement then, isn't it?"

"Yup…" she nodded.

"There we go, we're fixing things up already. Isn't that great?"

"I guess…"

I noticed that Weiss was now quickly making her way to us. She grabbed our shoulders.

"Look Ruby, what he's trying to say is that he's _really_ sorry for what happened back then and he's trying to improve. Isn't that right Spectre?"

"What are you, my personal translator or something?" I asked defensively.

"Well you certainly need one, you dunce!" she snapped back. I could hear the spluttering of muffled laughter now, and I realised that we had amassed a small audience.

Renn, of all people, was the one to speak for the group. "Well," he said, "You two _do_ seem to make a good pair." You know its official when he says something like that – and neither of us were amused.

Weiss looked like she was going to explode. Then she _did _explode. "THAT IS _SO _NOT TRUE! Yes, Spectre did save my life on the first time we met, and yes, I do think he can be a very dependable person…"

"_Can be?_" I asked feinting offense.

"But that doesn't have anything to do with any feelings for each other!" she continued, ignoring me.

"Yeah," I said backing her up, "I wasn't exactly going to let her get kidnapped, and then god knows what else…"

She looked at me and smiled warmly. "Yes, he's a real hero."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…" I replied sheepishly.

"I would." We all swivelled our heads to Ruby. "You put your life on the line for me during initiation," she continued, "and we barely knew each other back then. Face it Spectre, you're a hero."

"Technically it was Weiss that…"

"And if she wasn't there, you would have taken the hit," Yang butted in, "Yeah, I thought about what you said that night, and I _did_ fail Ruby – I'm not denying that anymore…"

"Yang I…" She shushed me and carried on.

"No. When you first said it to me, I refused to listen. I was afraid that you were right, and that I couldn't protect her… But now I know that I'll have to try harder, for her sake."

"But I was mad," I insisted, "If I wasn't in the state I was in, then I wouldn't have said those things…"

"You were grieving Spectre," she said, "and I get that now. The point is, when I tried to cheer you up, I did a pretty bad job. I'm sorry…"

I thought about that for a few moments. Maybe she_ was_ right. But that still didn't change anything, whose fault it was didn't matter anymore. I needed to focus around fixing things, and this was the first step.

I signalled for her to hug me. "Apology accepted." As soon as the words left my mouth, she sprang at me and wrapped me in a constriction of arms. Generally, to be offered a hug by me was a privilege that few had the honour of ever experiencing. Right now, she was one of those few.

As I regained my balance, I heard a 'Yay!' and Ruby slammed into me, curling her arms tightly around my waist. Before I knew it, Weiss and Pyrrha had joined in too, making me the centre of a writhing mass of people. I looked around to the others.

"Since we're all here, does anyone else want to join in?" I asked, instantly regretting my decision. The reason was Nora.

"HUGS!" she bellowed as she surged forward with the fury of a small Ursa. When she got to us, her momentum made us all collapse to the floor in a deposit of laughing bodies. That was when I noticed it; I was laughing. For the first time in nearly three months, I was laughing. It was a good feeling, like a secret milestone that I had just uncovered. Life was good. For the first time in years, life felt good.

I laid there for a few moments more, reflecting on the past few minutes. Being called a hero, the group hug, Nora's charge…

"She even did a _really _good impression as she charged too…" I thought to myself.

There it was again, the sound of an Ursa's roar. It was fairly close, and something told me it wasn't an impression after all…

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked.

Not a moment later, Team CRDL sprinted past us. Neither Cardin nor Jaune were with them. "Ursa! Ursa!" One of them shouted as he bumped into Yang.

She grabbed him by the collar. "What? Where?"

"Back there," he said helplessly, "It's got Cardin!"

Pyrrha's eyes widened. "Jaune!" she thought aloud.

As I got to my feet, Ruby took the command. "Yang. You and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch."

"You two go with them," Pyrrha said to Renn and Nora, "There could be more."

"I'll go with you guys," I said drawing my weapons, but Ruby cut me off.

"No," she exclaimed, "You can find the Professor quicker than everyone else. Help them."

After a moment's hesitation, I nodded. "Good idea." After sheathing my swords and turning to follow the others, I said one last thing to them. "Good luck."

"You too," Pyrrha replied, "Now go!"

* * *

><p>After finding Miss Goodwitch, Yang and I ran back to where the noise came from. There we found Ruby, Weiss and Pyrrha watching Jaune help Cardin to his feet, a dead Ursa Major slowly evaporating next to them.<p>

"What happened here?" Yang asked.

"Jaune just killed an Ursa," Ruby replied casually.

I was the one to talk this time. "Oh, that's cool… Wait, what?"

"Jaune just killed an Ursa," Ruby repeated, this time turning to us and showing the huge smile on her face.

I stared at him for a few more seconds. "Huh…" I said more to myself, "Guess he's got some Arc in him after all."


	9. Chapter IX

Author's Note: Yo peeps! Nothing to declare on this chapter, only that this is the penultimate chapter for this story. Don't worry, the end is not nye! I have great things in motion for the next story (I'll probably go into more detail next week). So yeah, I'll just let you read now. Bye!

* * *

><p>Chapter IX: Beneath the Surface<p>

'_Liars, thieves and murderers.'_

I sidestepped the sword that was rushing down towards my skull and my attacker flew past me, colliding with the wall behind me. He slid to the floor with a groan, yet another failure under his belt.

"You need to be faster than that Jaune," I said critically, "If I can dodge that, anyone can."

He groaned once more in response and didn't get up. Rolling my eyes, I moved to him and offered him a hand. He took it reluctantly and staggered to his feet. He looked tired and bruised; even the walls were picking on poor old Jaune. Besides this, I hadn't even laid a finger on him during the ten minutes we had been here, and he was already in a sorry state.

"How tired are you?" I asked him.

"Pretty tired…" he panted, "But don't worry… I can carry on…"

I studied him up and down before making a conclusion. "If you're sure," I shrugged, heading towards a seat. "Sit with me."

"But I'm good to carry on," he insisted, lifting himself into a readiness stance. It took him quite some effort might I add.

"Who said we're stopping?" I countered, "We're going to do something a little different this time."

After a small huff, he paced over and joined me, his curiosity pushing him forward. Once he had slumped into the spot next to me, I began.

"You know what we've been doing just then?"

"Yes."

"That wasn't for nothing. I was just testing to see how you fight."

"OK. So why didn't you tell me that?" he asked.

"I didn't tell you because then it wouldn't have been an accurate demonstration," I said, "If I had told you, I reckon you would have tried something different."

"That makes sense I guess…"

"See? I know what I'm doing," I reassured him, "Now I've made some conclusions from that little test just then…"

"OK…"

"And I've found that you act _very_ offensively."

"Right…"

"I've also found that you need to move faster…"

He looked disappointed.

"And your stamina needs to improve…"

He groaned.

"And you need to straighten your sword arm more."

Finally, he sank in his chair, groaning even louder than before.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Relax mate, that's just stuff that you work on through practice. What's good about you, is that you're committed; however close you get to giving up, you still carry on. _That _is one of the best traits a person can have."

"You really think so?" he asked looking at me hopefully.

"Yeah," I replied honestly, "Provided one is committed to what they're doing, no matter the task, they will see it through to the end. Those people make excellent leaders because of this. They may not be the strongest of fighters, granted, but they are the ones who keep the team together."

He took in all of that information and squared it away somewhere in his head. Somehow I knew he would take that to heart, more so than others definitely.

After a few more seconds in thought, he stood and grabbed his gear. "Thanks Spectre."

"No problem," I said whilst standing to join him.

I'll admit, for the first months that I had known him, I wasn't too fond of Jaune. On the initiation day, his incompetence screwed me over not once, but twice. After he vomited at the smell of the Grimm remains on my clothes, I had a real hard time understanding just how he would cope in a more difficult situation. Over the next few weeks, he came across as weak and, for lack of better words, pathetic. He let Cardin trample over him and exploit him. It got to his head, and affected his classwork. I honestly felt that he didn't deserve to be here, and it wasn't good for him either... But that soon changed.

The day that Jaune killed that Ursa Major and stood up to Cardin, he proved to himself, to all of us, that he had a right to be here. That he could become a great hunter one day. That he would carry on his family's legacy and make his ancestors proud. It gave me hope for him, that little push that _I_ needed to help him improve. It just goes to show that you don't know what's behind the shell until you crack it open.

Returning my mind to the lesson, I proposed the next step.

"Right," I said, "You carry a shield and yet, I haven't seen you use it at all. Why is that?"

He hesitated. "Uh… I'm very offensive?"

"Just because you have a shield, doesn't mean you have to use it defensively," I pointed out, "But that's a bit more advanced. Look, the way I see it, you inherited that shield for reason, yes?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"So, you could have been envisioned to be able to take a lot of punishment. Stand there with your shield out." I pointed to the spot and backed up. Once Jaune was ready, I started to pull _Grimm's Doom _from its sheath.

"Woah, woah, woah!" he shouted like he was staring death in the face, "I-I'm not ready to take you on _just_ yet!"

I sighed. "Relax Jaune," I said, letting my arms fall to my sides, "I'm not going to hurt you, well not unless you _really _piss me off. I only want to take a few swings at you to see how your shield arm is. Nothing too hard, OK?"

He gulped. "OK…"

"Good. Now shield up." He did so surprisingly quickly; whether it was reflex or fear that fuelled the movement, I didn't know. "Alright. Here I come," I said somewhat playfully, like we were playing hide and seek or something.

I moved in at a casual pace, with _Doom _pointed to my side. I didn't want to make things too hard for him by Void-Jumping the distance. That would come later... By the time I had closed the gap and had risen _Doom_ skyward, Jaune had braced his stance. His legs were shaking though, and his shield arm wasn't stable either. As demonstration, I swung downwards, my sword clashing with the shield with a metallic clunk. He buckled under the blow and near enough tumbled to the side, quickly scrambling to his feet, expecting another strike to follow.

There wasn't one. I sheathed my weapon on my back and approached him.

"You know what you did wrong there?" I straight up asked him, glancing at my scroll.

"I don't know… Isn't it your job to tell me where I go wrong?" he said, sagging his shoulders and looking downwards.

"Yes, but what's even better is if you find out for yourself. That way, you become less reliant me, and things will just be easier in general. So, I'll ask again, what did you do wrong just then?"

"I… don't know…" He truly looked defeated now, even for him.

I gripped his shoulder firmly. "Listen, you may not know the answer now, but if you think about it over time the answer _will_ come to you. I want you to tell me what that is for the next time we train. Think of it as a little homework."

"Right," he said, "So the lesson's over right?"

"Yeah, it is. Now last I heard, Renn's been making pancakes again, there might be some left if we hurry."

"Good idea," said a relieved Jaune, "I could really use with a bite to eat right now." As we made our way off of the roof, he turned to me once more. "Wait, you can't eat pancakes can you?"

"Two words Jaune," I said turning to him, "Pancake. Mix."

* * *

><p><em><strong>To Jack, you wanted binary, so here's your sodding binary. Regards, De4thstopper. (P.S: 3,000 characters, one FanFic. Good luck.)<strong>_

We made our way back to the Team JNPR's dorm and talked and ate pancakes and just generally had a laugh. Pyrrha pulled me to one side to discuss the events of Jaune's lesson. I replied honestly, and she seemed satisfied, thanking me as we joined the others. Nora was… Nora. For whatever reason, Renn explained the term 'binary' to her, and she just kept repeating the word out loud like a bad vinyl record. After a few minutes, we learned to leave her alone and drown out the noise. The pancake mix that I so lovingly consumed, was warm and had syrup drizzled in. If anyone could make pancake mix, it was Lie Renn. Why I hadn't come to him for pancake mix before, I had no idea. He even enquired about Weiss and I the cheeky bugger; there was simply no way of convincing him that we were only friends. What made him such a good matchmaker anyway? That said, I'd prefer him to Cardin any day…

* * *

><p>After a good half an hour, I decided to leave them in peace and retire to my own dorm. I still hadn't made a definite conclusion as to what kicked off my anger issues. I had been looking into this in my free time since it first sprang up, and I had made little to no progress during that time. The way I saw it, there were three things that were obvious; it could be the Arch-Grimm holding some sort of effect in my head, which would explain the visions that I had every day. It could be Shadow's death. I had never started seeing visions until after she died, and then there were the visions where I actually<em>saw<em> her and heard her in my head. That can't be a coincidence. Maybe my issues had something to do with her too…

And then there was the option that I hoped was the least likely: Yang. She was the one who talked to me and, you could say, the one who sparked the inferno. But that didn't make any sense; besides our argument, we had gotten on very well. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I have never had as much fun in my life as I have done with her recently. She made me laugh; it doesn't sound all that big a thing, but for me it meant so much more. I felt_alive_ by her side. And she enjoyed my company too. The feeling was new to me so I couldn't tell, but I think I liked her. Like,_liked her _liked her. That had only happened to me once, but the feelings weren't as strong as the ones I am feeling now…

My thoughts were cut short by when I reached my door however. Blake was barrelling down the corridor with Weiss closely behind. I turned to greet them.

"Hey guys…"

"NOT NOW!" they both snapped in unison as they continued down the corridor. When they reached their dorm, they started bickering about something that sounded like Faunus rights. It seemed as if the two had been at it for quite a while now. Soon after, Yang and Ruby came from the same direction with equal haste.

"Hey guys," I tried for the second time. I was successful too.

"Hey Spectre!" Yang said as if in a rush, "Look I'd like to chat, but…"

Ruby nudged her. "Don't worry sis, you can stay here if you want. I'll worry about Weiss and Blake."

"You sure?"

"Yep, I'm the team leader, remember?"

"Thanks Ruby!" she said gratefully, "Good luck!"

"Yeah, I'll need it…" she mumbled, "See you Spectre."

I held up my flask humbly. "See you Rubes." With one last smile, she followed the sound of verbal conflict between the contrasting girls next door. Once she walked through the door, Yang turned to me.

"So, how've you been?"

"Pretty good, you?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I've just got to deal with… well, I guess you saw Blake and Weiss?"

"Yeah, they seemed pretty… engaged. What's up with them anyway?"

She shrugged. "I don't really know. Weiss was talking about how Faunus are all bad, and Blake got pretty pissed off about it… I don't know why."

"She must not know that Blake is a Faunus…" I thought to myself. I chose to be tactful and not bring it up though. "Could I help at all?"

"If I were you, I'd just stay out of it…" Yang said rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, "Not that I don't think it'll help or anything, but it might be a good idea to just let them calm down."

"OK then… So anything else you wanna talk about?"

A smile painted itself across her face, a nice change from before. "Well, I'm gonna buy you a present."

"Oh?" I asked, intrigued. Nobody ever bought me presents. "What kind of present?"

She put her hands behind her back and began to swivel her body from the waist up playfully. "It's something that's practical, a little fun… and good for both of us."

I wasn't sure what she was implying; knowing Yang, it could mean anything...

I managed to regain myself surprisingly well. "I look forward to it."

"Good," she said playfully. Then she sighed suddenly, "I guess I can't hold this off much longer…" She must have referring to the whole Weiss-Blake fiasco next door.

I nodded in understanding. "Sure thing. Be with your team."

She smiled sadly. "It was really nice to catch up; we haven't spoken to each other in a while."

"No we haven't…" I agreed. Then an idea came to mind. "Hey Yang, do you… wanna meet up again, like for a drink or something? Just to catch up properly and, y'know, chat and stuff."

I noticed her face light up a little. "Oh, sure that'd be great! When do you wanna meet up?"

I scrambled though my head desperately for a good time. "How about this weekend?" I asked finally.

She stepped back in thought. "Yeah, I can do that," she said happily, "Where do you wanna meet?"

"Why don't we just meet here then go into town, see what we can find?"

She put on that cheeky smile again. "It's a date." She probably meant it loosely - probably. The word stuck with me for a little bit. '_Date_'.

"Cool…"

"…as KitKats?" Yang finished, "Yeah… Weiss told us about that. She said it was the worst joke she'd ever heard."

My heart sank, but I didn't show it. "I'm still getting used to telling good jokes, so…"

"If it helps, I thought it was alright…" she said softly.

I grunted and smiled under my helmet. "Thanks Yang."

She smiled back. "I'd better go now... I'll see you later, Spectre."

I watched her move to her dorm, the sounds of bickering still emanating from the open door, and they instantly became muffled as she closed the door behind her. Not a moment afterwards, I too entered my own dorm, taking another sip from by scrumptious pancake mix.

* * *

><p>As soon as I closed my door, I leaned backwards, my spine pressed flat against the firm woodwork.<p>

"I've done it!" I thought merrily, "The first step to a relationship with a girl I really like! If Shad were here to see this…" I stopped. "Shadow…" I muttered. It had been some time since I had thought about her or taken a moment to honour her memory. Suddenly ashamed for my lack of respect, I spent the next thirty seconds or so in silence, recalling my memories of her, the good and the bad. The time when we met the boss in Atlas. The time we spent with the Atlas academy kids and the many friends who lost their lives during our stay. The names we would always remember, but never share. The times we…

"NO!" came a voice from the other side of the wall. Weiss. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves and murderers!"

"And maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!" It was Blake who had made that one slip. The silence that followed was enough of a sign for me to step in. Placing my flask on the shelf closest to me, I Void-Jumped out into the corridor and paced down to Team RWBY's dorm. As I was about to knock, the door flung open, and a blur that could only be Blake flew right past me.

"Blake! Wait, come back!" I heard Ruby say from within. It didn't help though; she was already long gone.

I turned the corner and strode into the room. "What the hell did you do?" I asked, directed towards Weiss.

She didn't answer; she only had a look of anger and betrayal on her face. There was not even a trace of remorse, and that's what I hated about it.

"How long were you listening?" Ruby asked me, still sad at Blake's sudden departure.

"Long enough," I answered bluntly, not taking my eyes off of Weiss.

"So you heard what she said then?" she said finally, "I'm sure you would know what this means. You'll have to deal with her…"

"_I'm _going to deal with her?" I interrupted, my tone rising, "I'm not a lackey for your father's company, and I am most certainly_not_ one of yours either. So don't you go bossing me around, Princess."

"Oh, so you're a sympathiser for murderers and degenerates too now, are you?" she countered, her tongue like a freshly sharpened knife.

I clenched my fists, and struggled to bite back the rage building inside of me. "I'll have you know that I have friends, no _family_ that are Faunus, and they are heroes without which we wouldn't even be here today. I would gladly have one of them over you any day."

That shut her up. She placed her hand across her forehead and sat on her bed. After a few moments of awkward silence, Yang rose from her seat and grasped my shoulder.

"C'mon Spectre. I get how you're feeling, and I think you should cool down a bit before you do anything else."

She was right and I knew it. I took a deep breath and loosened my hands as I turned my back on the white haired girl in front of me. I made my way into the corridor.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asked.

I stopped at the door frame and looked at her over my shoulder. "I'm the only one who knew of her past before now," I said seriously, "It's a gamble, but I figure that she'd open up to me."

* * *

><p>It didn't take me too long to find her in the evening darkness of the Academy grounds. Being able to Jump from roof to roof was a very useful ability to have in that sense. She wasn't difficult to spot either; the grounds were barren, nobody was out at this time of night. I followed her to the hero statue at the centre of the campus, where she eventually stopped and started to gaze upon it.<p>

I could have intercepted her a while back, but I decided that seeing where she was headed could be useful to know. Over the years I have learned that patience can get you the best results in most situations. Knowing when to act is key as well. It's good to know what you need to do, but the puzzle isn't complete without knowing the time that it needs to be done. And so, I waited.

I noted that Blake had stared from the humans atop the rock, to the Grimm that was carved below it. I guess she was comparing herself to the Grimm. She must have been feeling _really _bad… It was then that I saw them for the first time. Slowly, she moved her hands to her head and started to pull at the bow in her hair. It wasn't long before it fell into her hands, revealing the black cat ears that were hidden beneath the surface.

From the moment I encountered her, it was obvious that she was a Faunus; she was working with the White Fang after all. What wasn't immediately clear to me however, was what kind of Faunus. Recalling her fighting style from the train, and the stealthy movement from when she attacked me after initiation, I figured that a feline animal suited her well. It seems I was right.

Then a new speaker entered the scene. "I knew you'd look better without the bow."

I swung my head to the sound and identified the new speaker. Judging by his voice and appearance, he was male and of a similar age to me. From what I could tell from a distance, the boy had a monkey tail, clearly a Faunus as well.

Then, at one of the most inconvenient of times, the familiar flash of a vision shoved its way into my head. I saw… myself? I looked different, and I was accompanied by three other silhouettes by my side. I couldn't tell who they were, but somehow I knew they would be my allies, my friends. Then that same voice came as darkness fell:

"A path has been laid before you. Take it before the flow of time robs it from your grasp."

My vision returned quickly. Right now the things I foresaw were creating more questions than answers. "A path has been laid before me…" I contemplated, almost forgetting about Blake and the mystery Faunus. The very thought made me snap back into reality and scan franticly for the pair. I caught the literal tail end of the monkey boy moving around a blind corner. With the guidance of some greater force, I followed from the shadows, my supposed destiny edging ever closer.


	10. Chapter X

Author's Note: Hello viewers old and new! The time has come to present the tenth and final chapter of 'Spectre: A Beacon to Follow'. You may be weeping, you may not give a crap (I don't really know...), but as the title suggests, this chapter paves the way for the next story and beyond. That's right! It doesn't end here, and there will be many more stories to come as the plot thickens. I will however be taking a little break from now on, so I wouldn't expect any new releases this side of Christmas. That said, I'll post any updates regarding new stuff and any announcements in general on this story, so you guys won't miss out on anything. This chapter is pretty damn long too, so it might make up for it a bit.

Finally, I just want to say thanks to every one of you. From those who are looking at this story for the first time, and to those who have been with me from square one, you have all played an important part in making this FanFic as good as it is now. Your reviews and comments have really inspired me to continue what I love doing the most. The joy of opening my emails every morning is quite literally unrivaled.

**_Here's to you guys! See you again soon!_**

**_De4thstopper_**

* * *

><p>Chapter X: From the End, Comes a Dawn<p>

'_The innocent never run.'_

Tracking. That is what I did over the weekend. Following a pair of somewhat illusive Fauna wasn't as fun nor as difficult as you'd imagine. The hardest part was probably finding a good spot to camp out for the night in the open city. I picked up my gear from my locker before leaving, so my half cape kept me warm during evenings. Well half of me anyway…

They hadn't travelled anywhere too taxing, various cafes and sight-seeing spots were the general trend. They had even stopped off at that nice café that Pyrrha and I sat in a while ago. I sipped from my juice carton, embracing its lush flavour within my mouth as I watched from above. I had to sneak into the café to buy it so they wouldn't see me, but it was still more than worth the effort.

After a while of observing nothing but small talk and weird looks between the two, Blake finally decided to talk about her past and her current situation. Her story wasn't too different from other Fauna's childhoods that I'd heard of; it wasn't _exactly_ the same obviously, but the key points were there. Abuse and discrimination from humans were a recurring theme amongst all of them. I wonder what it would have been like if_ I_ were a Faunus? With the life I lead at the moment, I don't know if it would be worse or not. It was one thing to have a bad childhood, but to not remember one's own roots is something else entirely…

The sudden movement in front of me let me regain my focus. Blake and her new friend were leaving, and I made quick pursuit from the rooftops, discarding my empty carton as I went.

* * *

><p>They were walking casually along an empty path, the only sound being their footsteps against the paving stones. I watched from above as 'monkey boy' engaged in conversation.<p>

"So, what's the plan now?" he asked with his hands behind his head.

"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies," Blake answered, "They've never needed that much dust before…"

"What if they did?" monkey boy said, turning to her to emphasise his point, "I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it… and not find them there! Right?"

Blake looked at him sceptically. "The only thing is, I have no idea where that might be."

"Well, while I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?"

"_Huge. _Big Schnee Dust Company freighter."

"You're sure?" Blake asked.

He nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

Before they got too far, I Jumped down to them, deciding that now was the time to reveal myself.

Monkey boy staggered back in alarm. "Woah! Where'd you come from?"

I quickly held my hands forward before Blake could draw her sword on me. "Wait! I don't want to fight, OK? I just want to talk."

"How did you find us?" she demanded, clearly threatened by my sudden appearance.

I replied honestly. "I've been following you since you left. Think of it as a guardian angel."

"Why?"

"Because your teammates are concerned, and are probably out there looking for you right now."

She hesitated.

"What would I have to gain if I lie to you?" I asked persuasively.

Eventually, she faltered. "What makes you think I can trust you?"

"Believe me, I have a lot of friends who are Faunus and have suffered just as you have," I said looking between her and monkey boy, "I _want _help against the Fang. Their cause is a good one, I know, but their methods are… questionable. It is their fault that Faunus bear a bad name these days, and I wish to play my part in its end, whether it be diplomatic or full scale war."

You could see the consideration in her eyes, the calculations going on inside of her head. Finally coming to a conclusion, she sheathed her sword on her back and spoke a warning.

"You've persuaded me, but if I think you're going to try something, I _will _kill you."

"Likewise," I sent back at her, my tone suddenly much more threatening.

* * *

><p>I'll be honest, I was having second thoughts about my impressions of Blake. She was playing the good guy now, but what if it was just a hoax? What if we did find the White Fang and she turned on me? That said, she probably felt the same way about me too. Either way, I was going to find out soon enough.<p>

Monkey boy, Sun, was an alright guy though. He was fascinated with my Void-Jumping and said that he'd find it really useful to have. For whatever reasons, I cannot say, but I trusted him nevertheless.

Once we had reached the docks, we found a good spot to watch the entire area from an upper vantage. We had been there for quite some time too, so Sun had taken to bring us some snacks as we waited. I had decided to sit some distance away from the roof's edge and meditate, readying myself for anything that came my way. Blake's eyes never left the area below, just as she never moved from her position, like a statue. We didn't speak; it was too tense to break the silence. She was dedicated, I'll give her that, but whether she'd hold her own here was a mystery. None of us knew just how big this was; besides the size of the cargo, and it _was _huge, we had no indication as to how strong the Fang's forces would be when or if they arrived. I didn't like it one bit.

I'd say it was around a quarter of an hour before Sun returned with an armful of fruit. He tapped me on the shoulder and offered me some, but I held my hand up and shook my head.

"Oh, OK then…" he said in response. He then turned to Blake and stooped downwards: "Did I miss anything?"

"Not really," she replied blandly, "They've offloaded all of the crates from the boat; now they're just sitting there…"

"Cool," he said positively, "I stole you some food." He handed her the same apple he offered me.

"Do you _always_ break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?"

I tell you no lie, her face was a picture. My mischievous side was temping me to comment on the burn, something along the lines of: 'get wrecked' or 'would you like some Sudocrem with that hot sauce, madam?' Sadly, the party pooper known as maturity prevented me from doing so. I was thankful once again for my hood and helmet to hide the smile of amusement that had smeared its way across my face.

"OK, too soon…" Sun said in desperation, but was cut off by a roaring engine from above. Gazing up against the downforce, we noticed the Bullhead loom over our heads, scanning the docks below with a pair of blinding spotlights. Satisfied that the area was clear, it landed down onto the concrete and its boarding ramp rolled open. As I moved to the roof's edge, I saw a man in white and black fatigues step out from the vehicle.

"Oh no…" Blake said sadly.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

"Yes… It's them…"

As if on cue, three more followed him out, with a fourth staying within the VTOL, issuing orders.

"Alright, grab the tow cables!" he demanded shaking his gun for effect.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun asked, turning to Blake.

"No, I think deep down I knew, I just didn't want to be right…"

"Hey! What's the hold up?" came a new voice from within the Bullhead. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace."

Roman Torchwick. That scummy faggot has been on the most wanted list for years now. Organised robberies all across the kingdom had his name plastered to them. Every place had a notorious crime boss; then there was Torchwick.

"Oh yeah, _real _conspicuous, arsehole…" I criticised under my breath.

"This isn't right," Blake stated, "The White Fang would never work with a human." She stood up and reached for her sword, but I gripped her shoulder.

"If you could take on Torchwick by yourself, I'd be impressed, but I have my doubts."

"This is none of your concern, let me go!" she spat back at me in sudden anger.

Despite her struggling, I held firm. "If I told you that I've been hunting for that bastard over the years, would you change your mind?"

She stopped fidgeting, and I let go of her shoulder. "Think about it, if we do this right, we can put an end to his schemes once and for all. If you charge in recklessly, that won't happen, and he'll get away."

She walked away from me, not liking the idea, but knowing that I was probably right. Probably.

"We need to work together…"

Suddenly, I was blown off my feet by what felt like a charging Goliath, metallic silver splinters littering the floor around me. I hit the floor a few metres back, a loud cracking noise echoing in the evening air. Only after a few seconds did I realise what happened. Someone had just shot me. The force of the round was_very_ powerful, and I soon felt a large ache in my left shoulder. I looked to it and noticed that my shoulder pad had been completely shattered. It took the hit well though; there was no blood, to my relief, only a lot of bruising for the morning to come.

Regaining my focus, I looked around me, not daring to stand up in case the shooter fired again. I noticed that Blake and Sun were doing the same and glancing in my direction, fearing me for dead. I stuck my thumb up to show that I was fine and rolled steadily on to my front, crawling low to the edge of the building. Sticking my head out to look downwards, I noticed that Torchwick and his goons were picking up the pace and even fumbling in places.

"It doesn't look like they expected that to happen…" Blake said from beside me, mirroring my position.

A quick observation, and I figured she was right; Torckwick was getting jumpy and wasn't showing that air of self-confidence that he was known to carry with him.

"Agreed," I said with consideration, "Something tells me there's a third party in play here…"

"You're sure that you're are good to go through with this, right?" I heard her ask, "I mean you just got _shot_, and it looked like it hurt too."

Honestly, even I was surprised by how well I was taking this; my nice and shiny shoulder pad had been lost forever, which I was pretty pissed about I'll admit, but I was thankful to be alive at the same time. Plus being shot doesn't come without its traumas. I was shaken, but not otherwise harmed.

"I'll be fine," I grunted, "Now, do you have any idea where the shot came from?"

"I think I saw something from over that way," Sun pointed out with his hand.

"And it will need to be higher than this roof to get a good shot off…" Blake added.

Sadly there were a number of buildings that fit the description in that direction. There wouldn't be enough time to check them all without the shooter disappearing – if they hadn't already. Then something came to mind.

"Judging but the delay between the round's impact and the sound of the weapon's discharge, I'd guess a range of around… seven hundred metres."

The pair looked out into the distance and quickly found the building which footed the bill. "There!" Sun said, indicating to the selected tower, "What about that one?"

After a quick evaluation, I turned to him. "Looks good to me. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to pay our new friends a visit."

"What about Torchwich?" Blake asked before I could move off.

"You guys will have to deal with him," I replied, "If you need help, just create a signal."

The Fauna glanced at each other for confirmation then nodded to me. "OK, good luck."

"You too," I wished as I rolled to my left and Void-Jumped to a new rooftop.

* * *

><p>It took me just under a minute to get to the top of the tower; once again my semblance had proven its worth. I was somewhat out of breath once I got there though, so I decided to wait a moment before confronting the perpetrators.<p>

There were two of them, and they were both bickering about something. One was a female Faunus with long red hair in a single ponytail down to her butt. She had her back to me, so I could make out her fox tail easily. She wore a white long sleeved shirt with a black vest on top. On her lower body was a pair of white leggings with a black battle skirt on top of that. On her feet were a pair of heavy looking knee-length military style boots with laces coloured a sort of regal purple. Both her shirt sleeves and the hem of her skirt had a trim of the same purple colour.

The other one was much less colourful in his attire. He wore an onyx coloured balaclava with a hood of similar colour, so his facial features couldn't be distinguished. He wore a dark orange t-shirt underneath his rather intimidating trench coat. It was an earthy brown colour, easily camouflaged in the wilds outside of the walls. With these, he wore a pair of grey-green loose fitting trousers with big pockets down the sides. His feet were fitted inside of a pair of hunting boots with sniper bullets strapped around them.

Both of them had sniper rifles on their backs; the female's was a more compact and versatile over most ranges. The male's I couldn't see too well, but judging by the length of its barrel, _that _was the weapon I had withstood.

"Why didn't you shoot the others?" the girl asked, "We could have got paid even more!"

"I don't like to shoot people unless I need to," the male replied as calmly as he could, "We have our prize, now let's collect our profit."

Bounty hunters. Now that was a surprise. Who would want me dead? More importantly, who would know where I'd be at this time?

"So we've got to go get him now, don't we?" the red head said reluctantly.

"Or…" I said, moving out of the shadows, "The prize could come to you."

The male was facing me, so he saw me first. In one quick motion, he pulled his rifle from his back and instead of shooting me again, it transformed into a claymore with the widest blade you'd ever see. He slammed the blade into the floor, creating a formidable defensive wall. During all of this, the girl had spun around and pulled her own rifle from her back and mounted the stock into her shoulder, her sights set on me.

Regardless to the threat of the pair in front of me, I continued. "Shooting people isn't very nice you know; you could have really hurt me…"

"We were trying to kill you, dumbass," the girl interrupted. She then turned to her shady accomplice. "I told you _I _should have shot him!"

He didn't reply, his gaze not leaving my face, his body ready and unmoving.

"Is that so?" I mocked, "Well you did a pretty crappy job if you ask me."

"Oh don't worry, we'll just kill you right now."

"We'll?" I asked cunningly.

"Yeah, we…" As she turned to look at the other shooter, he was gone. I didn't point it out, but I noticed him blend into the background, and eventually turn invisible. He could still be here, but instinct told me otherwise as a loud whooshing noise accompanied by a gust of wind rattled the tower. "Son of a bitch!" she cursed angrily.

I drew back my half cape and pulled _Doom _from the sheath on the right of my hip; I did the same with _Fall _from the one on my back. "More of an even fight now, isn't it?" I challenged, bringing my weapons to an offensive stance.

When she turned back to me, I got a good look at her face. Her fox ears were much more visible now, as were her abyss black eyes. I recognised those eyes; few people had them like hers. I wonder… No, surely not. She wouldn't dress like that. No way.

She had a familiar smirk about her too… "On second thoughts," she said cockily, "it just means more money for me when I hand over your corpse."

"Charming."

"I know right? Now do me a favour and-"

She leaped forward, turning her rifle into a hammer and slammed it into the ground where I was stood not moments before. She looked around in puzzlement, only seeking me out as I slashed upwards across her chest. She staggered back, her vest soaking up the hit, a deep cut now spewing stuffing from inside of the garment.

She glared at me. "Do you know how much this vest cost me?"

"Do you know how much _this _cost _me?_" I countered, indicating to my left shoulder where my armour pad should have been.

Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. "I don't like you…" she replied, taking a much steadier and less violent approach all of a sudden.

"That's nice," I replied bluntly, "Now, I'm going to give you one chance to back down. If you take it, I will never speak of this again and pretend it didn't happen. If you chose to be persistent, or try to kill me again, I won't be so merciful next time. You can tell your friend that too."

She held her glare, which under different circumstances would have been quite frightful to witness. "Fine." She made for the roof and looked over to me one more time, her glare now gone. "I'll see you around, Grey Knight." And with that, she dropped down from the tower and disappeared into the dark side streets below.

I took the next few seconds to recall what had just happened. Was the girl I'd just encountered who I thought she was after all? And what about her accomplice? Where did he fit into the equation?

Suddenly, I was beckoned back to the docks in the form of roaring explosions and gunfire from the distance. I sheathed my weapons and silently rushed back into conflict.

* * *

><p>As the flashes and sounds I could see from the tower suggested, the docks had been turned into a battle ground. I could hear the slashing and thudding of melee combat around the other side of the shipping crates to my right; I even witnessed a heavy lift cable breaking, releasing a freight from a crane and leaving it to the full force of gravity. I quickly paced my way to the corner.<p>

"Hold it right there!"

I stopped and turned slowly to be greeted by a group of White Fang grunts, five in all, keeping me levelled in their iron sights. Two had short swords and side arms, the others had submachine guns.

"I don't have time for this," I said after sighing with frustration.

"What did you…?"

Before he could finish his sentence, I had already Jumped behind them, leaving them completely confused.

"Hey, where'd he go?" I heard one of them ask.

As some form of response, I tapped the closest one on the shoulder and punched in square in the face once he'd turned, cracking his Grimm mask. Even as he fell to the floor, I aimed _Doom_ and _Fall _at the remaining two submachine gunners and dropped them quickly. Then I approached the last pair of disoriented melee fighters and countered their desperate blows, making quick work of them too.

I kept moving through the whole manoeuvre and didn't stop now. I only had one thing on my mind: Roman Torchwick. As the thought rose to the surface, I heard his cane fire at a rooftop in the distance, the projectile like a screeching firework in the midnight sky. After the impact, I heard the evil laugh of the man I was after. Years of training to defeat people like him, and here he was – so close…

When he started to run for one of the Bullheads, I Jumped in his path, advancing quickly towards him.

He slowed to a halt, and showed that irritating air of confidence that was his trademark. "Well isn't this a lovely surprise!"

"Shut it." I slammed my boot into his chest and he flew a few feet on to the floor, his hat rolling away into the open. He grunted and tried to reach for his cane. He froze when I shoved _Fall _against his throat however. For a few seconds, he dared to not make a sound – but then he smiled. He was staring death in the face if he played his cards wrong, but still he was… smiling.

"You've come a long way to finally get me here, haven't you?"

"That doesn't matter," I answered, "What matters is that you're going behind bars for a long, long time."

"Maybe…" he toyed, "And you would be _so_ rich for bringing me in wouldn't you? I can offer you more, offer you three times…"

"I'm not interested in money," I interrupted, losing my patience, "I'm interested in redeeming all of the lives that you have ruined."

He chuckled lightly. What is with this guy? "I should have expected someone like you, Spectre, to say no. But I suppose…"

"How did you know that name?" I demanded.

He chuckled again.

"How?" I stressed angrily, pressing _Fall _deeper into his neck.

He stopped chuckling and said: "You know what? I could tell you, but that would ruin the fun. You _will_ probably find out though, eventually, so don't you worry about it. Now, if you wouldn't mind Miss Mendokyll?"

Before I realised what he was talking about, I felt a blunt object slam into the back of my head. My eyes grew blurry and I struggled to keep myself on my feet. Then some sort of green laser sliced through the air above me and tore a pair of reinforcing Bullheads into pieces, the debris colliding safely with the water. A third VTOL, carrying one of the dust frights on its underside, came crashing into the ground shortly afterwards, leaving a blazing inferno at the crash site.

When I regained my senses, Torchwick was already well on his way within another Bullhead. In a last ditch attempt to stop him, I sprayed a full clip of my lighter ammunition from _Fall's _chambers after the aircraft. It had no effect. He got away.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before the cops had swarmed the place; our engagement hadn't been what I'd call subtle. At least we had been seen as innocent. Blake and Sun were sat on some wooden crates along with Ruby and some other girl that I didn't recognise. By all accounts, Ruby was the one on the rooftops who Torchwick shot at. This mystery girl was also the one who had taken down numerous White Fang grunts and destroyed three Bullheads, <em>single handedly. <em>How she could fire a bloody _laser beam_, I couldn't tell, but it went to show that I didn't want to get on her bad side.

I was away from the group, leaning against a cop car. I had seen a lot today; there many things to think about, so I wasn't feeling too sociable at the time. That said, they weren't all that talkative either.

I noticed Yang and Weiss arrive at the scene and move towards us. Things were still tense between the two shade girls, between Weiss and me as well. We hadn't spoken since the night that Blake left, so I was uncertain as to how things would go. With this on my mind, among the other events of the evening, I couldn't concentrate on what they were saying to each other, but Weiss seemed to come to terms with things, which was good. As Ruby quite rightly stated: "Team RWBY is back together!"

The thought was a nice one, something to water down the soup that was my mental activity. But those questions just kept nagging at me. What was Torchwick doing with the White Fang? How did he know my identity? Were the people who shot me really just third party bounty hunters? Or were they working with Torchwick? And the redhead, was she who I suspected? Miss Mendokyll…

"Spectre?"

Weiss was stood in front of me now; she was the one who pulled the emergency cord on my train of thought.

I stammered at the unexpected dialogue. "Oh, hey Weiss…"

A few seconds passed before I found the right words to say. "Look, I just want to say…" we both said to each other, pausing after we realised what we were doing. "I was just… You first… No you first!"

Noticing that this was getting us nowhere, I held my hand up and spoke. "Listen, Weiss, I realise now that you were only voicing your opinions, and you have every right to do so. I simply heard those words at the worst time, and it was immature of me to go off on one. I'm sorry."

She smiled, glad to see that things were being sorted out. Then her expression turned serious again. "And I'm sorry for all the bad things I said to you too. It wasn't right for me to say them, and now that I have a clearer head, I can see that."

I nodded in understanding. "Apology accepted."

"Good," she said, smiling with relief, "Now, I think Yang wanted to talk to you, something about this weekend I think…"

My face dropped. I was supposed to be meeting up with her this weekend, and I ran off on her without even realising. I hastily moved around Weiss and towards where Yang was sitting, thanking the Ice Queen as I passed her.

I tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Yang."

She smiled when she saw me. "Oh, hey Spectre!"

Before she could bring up a new topic, I pressed my point. "Look Yang, I am _really _sorry that I forgot about this weekend. One thing happened after another and…"

She turned to face me and grabbed my arm to get my attention. "It's fine Spectre. Really, it is. I was on the same page; I was looking for Blake all weekend and kinda forgot about our date too." There it was again: _'date'_. "So like I said, don't worry about it! We can go out right now too, if you want that is."

I hesitated. "Isn't it a bit late for that?"

"Awww, is Spectre afraid of the dark?" she teased, her lilac eyes glimmering slightly as she perked up a bit.

"I'll have you know that I got rid of my night light about a year ago," I joked openly.

She laughed at that. I always did like her laugh… "Now that, is a good joke! Do more of those," she commented helpfully.

"Will do."

Then her face changed elaborately. "Ooooh! I got you your present as well. C'mon, I put it over here!" Before I had any say in the matter, she clutched my hand and dragged me to a darker alleyway, just out of view from the commotion at the docks. Yang did have a habit of sending mixed messages; I didn't know whether she knew that or not, but it made her company more entertaining either way.

When we reached the corner, she released my hand and made her way into the gloom. "Stay right here!" she said in anticipation, eager to see my reaction. I could hear her grunting a little, which sounded awfully suspicious. I still had no idea what it was going to be, and it shames me to admit that I hadn't put much, if any thought towards it.

Then a hand poked out from behind the corner, a forefinger tempting my in. I let out a deep breath and made for the alley. As I turned, something flew out of the darkness and I was hit in the head for the second time that night. This time, the apparatus was much heavier and it forced me back first onto the cold hard ground.

"How about a cute little punch bag?" Yang asked proudly. Now I'd just like to point out that this punch bag was almost as tall as I was and easily as broad. Not exactly what I'd call cute and little, but hey, this was Yang talking. Before I could get to my feet, she had already begun to explain her gift. "You see, you can use it to practice punching stuff, so it's practical. You enjoy to hit things, don't lie, so it's a little fun. And it means that you have something to beat up every day without hitting the wall and waking me up at three in the morning, so it's good for the both of us! Pretty cool huh?"

I was still stunned at how hard she'd just hit me, let alone how well thought out the whole idea was. "Yang."

"Yes Spectre?"

"You, are brilliant."

"Awww, thanks!" Before I could say otherwise, she wrapped me in one of her death hugs. "You're Spec-tacular!"

"Good old Yang..." I thought in amusement.

So here I was, in a good start with a relationship with easily one of the hottest girls in Beacon Academy. What am I thinking at this time? This: "I'm going to have to carry this punch bag now, aren't I?" I asked breathlessly.

"Yep."

"Great… You don't happen to have a bracket to mount the punch bag onto the wall by any chance do you?"

"Nope."

"Great… So where'd you wanna go?"

"I was thinking that we could go get a drink or two... Ooooh! How about we go to Junior's place? That was fun last time."

"Sure, why not?"

And with that, we left the alleyway for Junior's Club for fighting and drinks, with a heavy load to bear along the way. Life was sweet.


	11. UPDATE

Spectre Chronicles Update

'_*annoyingly slow loading bar*'_

Hey peeps. Just giving you guys a quick update about how things are going.

I plan to release the next Spectre story sometime in January, just so I can get a few chapters ahead and stay on top of things.

I'm also working on something called 'RWBY Collaboration Fic', where a group of writers work together on one fanfic. There are eight of us in all, including:

PeoplexLikexGrapes

Calumbia1904

ShadowCinder333

GateMasterGreen

Arieko

TheManInTheTrenchCoat

Darkerpaths

And finally me.

There's only a bit of information on it right now, and we don't know exactly when we're going to release this fic, but it is published by PeoplexLikexGrapes if you want to check it out.

Finally, as I write this update, I am about to release something new, so if you're interested check out my stories and find out…

Oh, and look up 'Black Dahlia' by kcharling; if you like my OC fics then you'll like his too!

Right then, cheers guys!

De4thstopper


End file.
